A Harlequinade of Shadows
by Beware of Starlight
Summary: Yugi Mutos life had never been anything other than ordinary. But when he meets the mysterious Yami, eveything changes. Over the course of the next year, his and Yamis paths keep crossing. Each meeting is tangled up in a web of murder, suicide and tragedy. Soon Yugi finds him self caught in the biggest Puzzle ever. Who is Yami? Based on "The mysterious Mr. Quin" by Agatha Christie.
1. The Midnight Visitor

**The Midnight Visitor**

New Year's Eve was slowly drifting through its final hour and the big hall at Roystock was filled with the small group of houseguests. Yugi Muto leaned back, still laughing at a story Téa, one of his oldest friends, just told about the latest mishaps taking place at practice at the dance company she was currently working in; and let his gaze wander through the room. It was a happy celebration, old friends and people he just met intermingling at ease but something didn't quite sit right with him, even if he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. But the longer the evening went on, the more urgent this feeling became. It was a little bit unsettling.

Roystock was an old house, currently inhabited by one of his grandfather's closest friends, Professor Arthur Hawkins. The archaeologist was currently back in England, and he and Yugi's grandfather had regaled the rest of the guests with increasingly alcohol fueled recountings of their explorations. With later hours the stories had gotten more and more embellished and Yugi was quite sure that his grandfather was enjoying making more and more things up. At least he hoped so, because the thought about a cult in India pulling out people's hearts while they were still alive and stealing holy stones did sound a bit creepy. Smiling he listened a bit to the story, and moved on with a small headshake. No, the problem wasn't with the two old friends.

Other than them, there weren't many other guests. Joey, Yugi's best friend since high school, was listening wide eyed to the two old men. He never quite grew out of fearing ghosts, and creepy stories could catch his attention and imagination like nothing else. So far so normal. Téa, a professional dancer, was attentively listening to Rebecca, Professor Hawkins granddaughter, a young genius hellbent on following her grandfather in his academic career. Yugi was sitting next to them on the sofa and thus could listen to every word of the admittedly very fascinating conversation. Ancient Egypt had always been something of a passion of his...and Rebecca knew what she was talking about. With her ambition and her fiery character and intelligence, Yugi had no doubt that that she would succeed in her endeavour. And then...then there were the Valentines...Yugi's eyes narrowed as his gaze wandered to them.

Yes, maybe they were the ones that unsettled him. It was nothing personal, he barely knew Valon, but he seemed sympathetic, a lively Australian with a genial attitude and a big smile and a mouth that could rival Joey's at times. And Yugi had known Mai Valentine for a while now: they had met at some card tournament and Yugi respected her as strong duellist and a friend. But Mai, normally so self-confident and brazen, was oddly withdrawn tonight. She had barely taken part in the conversations, her smile did seem a bit hollow and forced, and Yugi was quite sure that she had drowned her glasses in a tempo to match the two old men. And her husband...Looking back to Valon Yugi couldn't help but notice that he was sometimes looking over to his wife. Nothing unusual about that but...damn it, Yugi couldn't quite say what it was, but something in his eyes reminded him not only of love, but also of fear. But why would he be afraid of his own wife? Mai could be scary sometimes, admittedly, but Valon did seem like the kind of guy to be cowered by that. If that was the case Mai wouldn't have married him anyway. Yugi had played card games, any kind of game honestly, for much of his life. He had grown up in his grandfather's game shop, and the first memory he had was about a puzzle coming together under his fingers. He knew how to read people, knew how they looked when they were nervous, as that was a tell you always had to look for, and now he was sure that Valon was all nerves. Interesting...

The solemn chiming of the big clock in the corner roused him from his thoughts and with a small surprise he watched it strike twelve. Was it really so late already? "Twelve o'clock." Arthur Hawkins voice sounded across the room. "It's new year's day then. Happy new year to you all!"

Rebecca's gaze wandered over to the clock. "Isn't this one five minutes early?"

Her grandfather shrugged. "Five minutes more, five minutes less. It probably won't matter that much. Of course sometimes it does..." He interrupted himself and his eyes grew darker. But in the next moment, the impression was passed, and a congeal smile appeared back on his face. "But yes, we should probably wait a bit longer. Celebrating early could bring bad luck after all."

Rebecca snorted amusedly, and with the conversation drifting off to superstitions and old traditions, her grandfather didn't notice when Téa leaned over and started to whisper. "What was that about? Your grandfather looked sad for a moment." Yugi leaned a bit closer too, and even Joey detangled himself from the conversation, probably glad to hear something that didn't involve old curses, to listen to her.

Under that much attention Rebecca couldn't very well decline to answer, so with a sigh she lowered her voice, all the times glancing over to her grandfather, making sure he couldn't hear her. "You have heard of the duelist Rex Raptor? He played mostly with Dino cards?"

Yugi nodded slowly. "He was the runner up for regional champion a couple of years ago, wasn't he?" Right...he remembered. Together with Weevil Underwood, Rex Raptor had been one of the first professional duelists Yugi had heard about, back then when Duel Monsters just started to get popular. "But I never really heard about him after that...Did he stop playing?"

Rebecca's face was grim. "No. Or yes, but in a much more permanent way." The scratching of a chair over the floor made her look up, and she gazed over to Mai. "Oh, is it too hot?" Mai had been sitting close to the fire. "Sorry, grandfather always goes a bit overboard with that."

Mai just shook her head. "No, no, it's alright. I just need to get away from it." Now her face was partially hidden in the shadows, and when she spoke Yugi was sure he could detected a hint of anxiety. "I think I met Rex at a tournament once."

Rebecca nodded. "Probably, he was very popular back then I think. Goodness, that must have been ten years ago." She raised her hand to gesture at the room they were sitting in. "He originally owned this house you know." Again she interrupted herself, and took a small sip from her glass. Yugi wasn't sure if it was to make a dramatic break, or because she wasn't sure how to continue on. Both, maybe. When she talked again, her voice was lowered, like she was sharing a secret or telling a ghost story. "Ten years ago, he shot himself, right in this house. It was a terrible shock for grandfather. He was right there when it happened, and your grandfather too, I think." She glanced shortly over to Yugi. "I think he always thought that if he had payed more attention, or if they had started looking for him sooner, that that tragedy could have been avoided."

Silence descended after she finished, giving time for her words to settle. When the old grandfather clock in corner suddenly started to groan and wheeze before it stroke twelve, Yugi wasn't the only one who flinched. Even Joey jumped up a little bit. With one hand on his heart he glared at the old clock like it personally attacked him. "Fucking hell, I nearly got a heart attack! Stupid thing."

Next to him Téa laughed. "And it just wanted to tell you that the New Year finally arrived. But don't worry, Joey." She gave him a friendly nudge with her elbow. "I'm sure Rex isn't wandering around the house as a ghost. Professor Hawkins wouldn't live here otherwise."

Exasperated, Joey turned to her. "Yes, that's very calming, really..." He shook his head.

With a small laugh Rebecca raised herself from the sofa, and stretched. "So, after this nice way to start the New Year, I'm going to bed. I still have something to do tomorrow." She glanced around. "Anyone coming?"

To Yugi's surprise it was Mai who nodded. "Yes, I'm slowly getting tired. Maybe I'm out of shape." She grinned, and winked, but Yugi couldn't help but notice that she was very pale, paler than usual. Concerned, his eyes followed her while she said her round of goodnights, pecked her husband on the cheeks and started to go up the stairs. She had barely looked at Valon while she had kissed him, but on the top of the stairs she turned her head to look at him over her shoulders and gave him a long searching glance which had a queer intensity to it. It lasted barely a second; then she disappeared, but the feeling of dread, of danger that had accompanied Yugi for the whole evening returned with vengeance. He was so distracted that he barely noticed how he wished Rebecca goodnight.

Of course she noticed, but he got off with just a searching glance. Maybe she just thought he was tired. "Well, we can only hope it will be a happy new year. Anybody know any superstitions to assure that?" Grinning she looked around, and with a smile Téa shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, I only now the one about the dark man. You know, to bring luck to the house, the first person to step over the doorstep on New Year's Day must be a dark man. But I don't think that's something you can control." She laughed. "It really sounds like 'You will meet a tall, dark, stranger', doesn't it?"

Rebecca shrugged. "True. But who knows, maybe we will be lucky. Even fortune-teller clichés could be right sometimes." With a small smile she disappeared upstairs.

Now that the guests thinned down the rest drew together closer, and the last decanter of the whiskey went around. Joey, declining alcohol in general, let himself sink back into the couch and glanced with a sigh over to Yugi. "First death cults and now suicides. This year is staring off so well, I'm not sure a dark man could turn this around." His darkening gaze wandered back to the stairs, and Yugi couldn't help but wonder if he was worried too. Joey knew Mai better than him after all, the two of them having achieved a friendship based on bickering, mock fights and teasing. If anything was wrong, it wouldn't be hidden from him.

Even though the knot of worry in his stomach was far from calming, he gave his friend a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, like Téa said Professor Hawkins wouldn't live in a haunted house. At least I don't think so..." He gazed over to the old man, who gave him a weak smile.

"I admit, I hate it when Rebecca brings up the subject. It's a tragedy, no matter how you look at that." Curious, Professor Hawkins eyes wandered around his guests. "I don't think any of you knew Rex, didn't you. Apart from Solomon of course."

Yugi, Joey and Téa all shook their heads, but it was Valon who answered. "No, I never met him." It was strangely fierce and defensive, so that Yugi looked at him with surprise for a moment. But Arthur, having turned his attention back to Joey with a dangerously teasing glint in his eye, didn't seem to notice.

"To get back to this house being haunted, well, there was a lot of rotten talk back then, of course. After the tragedy the place was sold to a big manufacturer, and he cleared out soon after, barely lasted a year. It didn't suit him, but" – he shrugged – "people talk. It gave the house a bad name, and when Rebecca got into Cambridge and we needed someplace to live close by the house was going cheap, and in the end I bought it. I never encountered a ghost here." The smile he gave Joey now was reassuring, but it didn't last long. "Still, nobody likes to live in a house where an acquaintance shot himself. Especially since we will likely never know why the poor boy did it."

With a small snort Valon poured himself another whiskey. "It's not like he will be the first or the last person to commit suicide without anyone figuring out why." He took a small sip, seemingly careless but Yugi noticed a small shake in his hand, which probably didn't come from the alcohol. He had handled it quite liberally that evening, true, but his speech was clear, just like his eyes, and he still looked and sounded very sober. Whatever else was wrong with him, he could handle his alcohol. That just didn't ease his worry over everything else that could go wrong.

Téa shook her head. "That's cold."

Valon looked over to her, and shrugged again. "But true."

She just signed, before she turned her head, and focused on Joey, who was already looking uncomfortable enough with the topic. "So, how is the work going? Your exhibition is in a couple of months right?"

It was an obvious way of changing the topic, and Joey jumped on it gratefully. "Oh that's going great! Perfectly in fact." He laughed, and the nervousness in his voice couldn't really be overheard. "I mean, there is this one picture I'm still having trouble with, and …still…a lot…to finish, but" – he perked up again – "I'm Joey Wheeler, remember? This is going to be fantastic, you will see."

Téa's look was a bit exasperated, and Yugi couldn't help but smile. "I'm sure it will. Your pictures are beautiful..." His own understanding about art wasn't that great to be honest, games were where his talents really laid, but he liked what he had seen of Joey's work so far. And honestly, nobody, absolutely nobody, would have ever expected Joey Wheeler to end up as an artist, back when he first declared that he wanted to draw. Hell, Tristan was still teasing him about that to this day. But Joey stuck with it, and after a couple of years, and with a lot of low paying jobs on the side and the help of his friends to pay for rent and food, it actually did look like he could be successful at what he wanted to do. He wouldn't have gotten an exhibition in a small, but extremely well respected, gallery if his work wasn't up to scratch.

Interested Yugi leaned forward. "But trouble with a picture…Is that a new idea, or something you have been working on for longer?"

With a frustrated sigh Joey combed his fingers through his hair. "A new one. There was this building Serenity dragged me to, an old meiji time mansion or something she wanted to visit and one of those rooms just struck me." He smiled, even if it turned into half a grimace. "You are probably going to like it, when it's done, but you know, even there was talk about ghosts and old stories. I swear I'm being haunted by that!"

Yugi laughed, and started to answer, but before he could get out a word the shutters in the windows smashed together with a loud bang, and for a moment the light began to flicker. With a slight scream Joey jumped out from his seat. "See?! What do I tell you?"

Yugi's grandfather shook his head, smiling reassuringly at the blond young man. "That's not a ghost, that was just the wind. The storm has been building up for a while." Professor Hawkins nodded, but he glanced worriedly over to the windows, clearly wondering whether or not they would hold.

Playing with his whiskey glass, Valon shot Joey a sly grin. "Are you sure? It really sounds like tonight is a night for ghost to walk if they ever do." He winked. "All the devils are abroad tonight."

If looks could kill, Joey could have been charged with manslaughter right now. Shivering he glared at Valon, before he looked back at the window. "Could we please leave this topic be? Please?"

Solomon Muto shrugged, while his smile was compassionate. "Ok, but think about it this way. If Téa is right, even the darkest one of those devils can do nothing but bring us luck. And we could always use some of that."

With a laugh Téa raised her glass. "I'll drink to that." She grinned up to Joey. "It's the devil's luck after all, isn't it?"

He just regarded her with a long suffering glance. "I honestly could live without that." But his mutter was drowned in a loud wail, as the storm rose again in power, and before anyone could react three loud knocks were heard from the door, which brought all conversation to an abrupt standstill.

Curious glances were shared while everyone tried to figure out if there really had been a knock or if it had just been the storm. "A visitor at this time of the night?" Yugi's grandfather did sound surprised, which didn't happen to the old man all that much. "Must be a peculiar traveller."

The friends stared at each other, before Professor Hawkins shook his head and started to rise from his comfortable seat by the fire. "I'll go and open it. At this time no servants will be up any more." He walked over, accompanied by curious, and in Joey's case, who was muttering something about serial killers coming in at night, nervous, gazes, fumbled a bit with the heavy bars keeping the door in place, and flung it open at last. An icy blast of wind swept into the hall, bringing snowflakes and the tall and slender figure of a man on the doorstep with it. For Yugi, craning his neck to get a better sight, the stained glass over the door made him appear to be dressed in a curious costume, painted with every colour of the rainbow. Then, the stranger stepped forward and the strange effect disappeared. But he still looked fascinating.

The many coloured clothes were actually motorclothes, and not really many coloured. They were pitch black in fact, which did make Yugi wonder how he could have seen the colours for a moment. His face was a work of sharp angles, smooth lines and high cheekbones, looking fragilely beautiful, if there hadn't been a hint of sharpness and arrogance. His skin was dark, the colour of old gold bringing with it the memory of ancient treasures and desert sands, helped by the fact that the stranger's eyes were a deep, dark red, looking like rubies surrounded by gold. It was the most striking pair of eyes Yugi had ever seen. Those interesting contrasts turned the face from merely beautiful to fascinating.

"I'm sorry to disturb you tonight." The stranger's voice was a deep rich baritone, pleasant and haunting like a moonlight melody. An apologetic smile accompanied his words. "But my car broke down, just down the road. It's not a big problem, my driver is working on it right now, but he thinks it would take half an hour at most and with the snow storm…" His smile grew as he broke off, and Professor Hawkins nodded at once.

"Of course, nobody could ask you to wait outside in the cold. Come in and have a drink, the fire is still hot. Do you think your driver would need help with the car?"

With a grateful smile the stranger shook his head. "No, no, thank you. He knows what to do. By the way." He offered his hand. "My name is Atem. Atem Sennen. Pleased to meet you." His smile had an impish undertone, his ruby coloured eyes sparkling as if he was constantly laughing about something only he could see, yet everything about his manner was warm and friendly. With a small gesture Professor Hawkins pointed at the chair Yugi's grandfather had already pulled forward, the same chair Mai had left before. "Please, sit down, Mr Sennen." With one hand he began to introduce his guest. "Solomon Muto, Yugi Muto, Joey Wheeler, Téa Gardner. Valon Valentine. My name is Professor Arthur Hawkins."

With a polite nod the visitor acknowledged the introductions and dropped into the chair by the fireside. Sitting now directly left to Yugi, some effect of the firelight threw a strange mark over his face, a bar of shadows which gave Yugi almost the impression that Sennen was wearing a mask.

Still standing Professor Hawkins threw a few more logs into the fire, and offered his new guest a drink. While the visitor accepted it, Yugi's grandfather looked over him with the curiosity which had accompanied the old man through his whole life. "So, what brings you to this part of the world Mr. Sennen? Do you know it quite well?"

A pair of red eyes wandered over to Solomon, and Mr. Sennen nodded. "I passed through it some years ago." He couldn't have sounded like he cared less, but something in his words made Yugi listen more closely. Just like with Mai before, he couldn't say what it was, but he knew that it was important. "Really?" The question was out before he could think about, but Sennen answered it nonetheless. " Yes. It's been a while though. Back then this house still belonged to the duelist Rex Raptor."

"Ah." Interested and maybe a bit relieved Professor Hawkins leaned forward. "So you knew Rex?"

The visitor looked back towards him. "Yes. I knew him." He didn't smile while he spoke, but there seemed to be a special undertone to his words. Either way, Professor Hawkins leaned back, a little bit more at ease. If the stranger knew Rex in whatever distant way, perhaps the acquaintance of an acquaintance, then he wasn't a complete stranger, and thus the old man was delighted to talk more with him. Truth to be told, he probably would have done it either way, the professor had always been very hospitable, and he truly liked people.

"An astonishing coincidence. We were just talking about his horrible death. I can tell you, I'm still not completely at ease with living here." With a glint in his eyes he cheerfully overheard Joey's complaint about why he had to stay here then, if even their host was afraid. "If there had been anything else suitable…" He sighed deeply, and swirled his whiskey thoughtfully in its glass. "I was here you know, on the night he shot himself, together with Solomon." He nodded towards his old friend. "And really" – now there was no doubt he was glancing over to Joey, and there was a teasing grin hidden underneath his grey moustache – "I always wondered whether or not I was going to meet his ghost wandering the halls one day."

Joey just groaned, and buried his head in his hands, while Yugi patted his back encouragingly. That really wasn't Joey's perfect start into a new year.

Sennen still watched Professor Hawkins attentively. "A very inexplicable business." He spoke slowly and deliberately, as if he was savouring each word, and when he paused it was with the air of a seasoned player who just put down an important piece in a game.

Yugi's grandfather nodded slowly. His eyes hadn't left the new visitor since he arrived, his eyebrows drawn together as if in deep thought. "That's one way of putting it. Arthur did doubt if we ever knew what drove the poor boy towards that."

"I wonder." Sennen's voice was tilting along non-committedly. "It was such a surprise?"

Hawkins sighed. "You mean we should have noticed something? Some reason for him to do a thing like that? As if I hadn't thought about that for years. There wasn't one, that's what makes it such a mystery. True, he just came second place in the regional finals against Weevil Underwood, but those two always had the kind of rivalry where they were constantly one upping another. Rex was full of plans on how he would defeat Weevil next and make him pay for his loss. He was kind of dramatic to be honest." He interrupted himself. "He was oddly cheerful, now that I think about it. Top of his spirits, celebrating his plans for the future with a few guests and visitors. And after dinner he went straight up to his room, drew a revolver and shot himself. Why, that is something nobody will ever know."

Sennen raised his eyebrow slowly. "That's a rather sweeping statement Professor Hawkins, isn't it?" A smile accompanied his words, the reproach so mild it was barely noticeable.

Thus Professor Hawkins regarded his new visitor with barely more than a hint of amusement. "So you think it would be possible to figure this out?"

Sennen nodded. "Of course. Just because a problem remained unsolved it doesn't mean that it's unsolvable."

At this Valon started to laugh. "Oh come on. You don't believe that, after all this time of nobody knowing, something is going to come out now? Ten years after the fact?" He sounded strangely bitter, and there was something sad to his smile when he spoke.

Mr. Sennen nodded gently. "Yes, I do believe that. The evidence of history is against you in this argument. As professor Hawkins will probably agree, a history written by a contemporary historian will never be so true as the history written by a historian of a later perspective. It's a question of getting the true perspective, of seeing things in their full connections. You could call it a question of relativity, if you'd like."

Professor Hawkins hummed thoughtfully. "Interesting theory. But true, time does put questions in different ways, and sometimes that's what opens up our eyes. But you forget archaeology also moves forward because we find new evidence. It's not just looking at things differently."

Yugi's grandfather looked over to his old friend and smiled. "I don't know, I think it depends on the question. Schliemann did find Troy after all exactly where Homer told him it was; it's just that nobody else thought about taking him literally." He threw a sly grin towards Mr. Sennen. "If our new friend wants to suggest that a court of inquiry, held by us tonight, could arrive at the truth about Rex Raptor's death just as well as if we would have been back then, I'm up for the challenge."

Yugi had to hide a smile. His grandfather never could resist a challenge, that would probably never change. But he could feel a surge of excitement himself, because this was a puzzle, a game of logic still unsolved. He couldn't resist something like that either. Even if he was feeling bad about treating another person's suicide like an entertaining game. He'd never met Rex but he deserved better than to be someone's entertainment. But this was the way he thought best, the way he could deal with such things, and if it could help with finding a reason, finding an explanation…wasn't that helping Rex too?

The visitor smiled. "I honestly think we would be more likely to figure it out, Mr. Muto. The personal factor, your emotions and relationship with the dead, has largely disappeared. What's left are the facts with as little interpretation tied to them as possible." Yugi's grandfather snorted. "There are no facts without interpretation: we humans aren't built that way." Mr. Sennen just smiled placidly, and the old man continued. "Good, then where do we start?"

Raising an eyebrow Mr. Sennen turned his whiskey glass absentmindedly around in his hand. "A theory maybe? Something any of you thought of that could explain what happened." He raised his hands in an apologetic manner. "I could imagine that everyone here has some idea about what they think could be the reason."

Professor Hawkins frowned. "Well, yes, we thought, given the way he talked…" The old man seemed to be a bit embarrassed and when he looked up he smiled apologetically. "Maybe it was a question of heartbreak gone wrong? It's a bit cliché but that or money trouble are the first things coming to mind when thinking about reasons for people to commit suicide, and Rex had no trouble with money. He was earning quite well as a professional player, and while he did spend much, he could afford it. So what else could it have been?"

Startled Yugi looked up. He had been leaning forward attentively, listening to the conversation, and trying to find his way in a ten year old mystery, when he had been suddenly jerked out of his thoughts by a flash just barely outside the corners of his vision. When he looked up to check, he caught side of a woman's figure crouched against the balustrade of the gallery above. She was barely visible from anywhere but where he himself sat, and so immovable that for a moment one could believe her to be part of the balustrades decorations. But Yugi recognised her, even hidden in the shadows as she was. Mai Valentine was listening to the conversation downstairs, and it seemed to trouble her so much that her fingers were white from clawing at the wood.

When Yugi looked down he caught Joey's eyes, eyes that had followed his, and in the short barely even existing moment he saw the dark and knowing worry in them. Everything seemed to fall into place. Sennens arrival, Mai's behaviour, Valon's nervousness, even Joey's worry…all seemed to be not events of chance or Yugi's own tiredness and vivid imagination, but pieces of a puzzle, slowly being put together at Roystock tonight. And the most important piece was only important because it was absent. Rex Raptor was a piece in this puzzle tonight, Yugi was sure of it. He just needed to find the right place for everything and he would understand what the puzzle was and why it happened now.

He looked back over to the people in the hall, saw a smile, an attentive tilt of the head, red eyes gleaming in the firelight, and suddenly something else became painstakingly clear. Sennen was the one who had put this puzzle on the table here and now. He may not have arranged the pieces himself, but he picked the players, and like a game master was moving them along, pulling the strings and making the marionettes dance. He knew everything, every piece of the puzzle, right down to Mai upstairs, and Yugi would bet he knew what the finished picture would look like too.

At the same moment Sennen was looking up. His and Yugi's eyes crossed for a moment, and whatever Sennen saw in Yugi's seemed to surprise him. His eyes widened for a moment, but then and interested gleam appeared in them. He smiled, and with an impish wink put his finger to his mouth for a moment. Yugi couldn't help but smile back, and nod. No, he wouldn't try to interrupt that. He was way too curious to see how this would turn out, what exactly Sennen had planned. But there was a challenge in Sennen's eyes, and Yugi would be damned if he didn't take him up on it. Let's see if he couldn't figure out his game before the final round. With a satisfied smile, Sennen was leaning back, and quietly and naturally began to pull the strings again, setting the players down on their path. But every now and then his eyes were wandering back towards Yugi with a thoughtful look and an interested smile.

"Heartbreak…yes," he murmured thoughtfully. "There wasn't anyone special mentioned at dinner?"

The eyes of Yugi's grandfather widened for a moment, and he nodded slowly, almost reluctantly. "Well, yes, there was…but Rex had a habit of bragging, and overstating things, so when he said that there would be an engagement in his future soon, we didn't really give much about it. Especially when he said that he didn't have the lady's agreement yet, so it should still be kept a secret."

Téa rolled her eyes. "Really? He proclaimed himself engaged before even getting a yes? Sounds quite charming."

Professor Hawkins shook his head, even while he couldn't hide a smile. "Well, being charming was never something you could accuse Rex of being. Just like having issues with his self-confidence. Honestly, back then we kind of thought he was exaggerating. I'm not even sure he talked about a woman explicitly. He was pretty close with Weevil Underwood back then…I think we believed Rex was hinting towards him, and was just angry about losing their latest duel, which is why he was being so obtuse."

It seemed like it was Sennen's turn to keep the conversation moving, but he did not speak, and even though nothing in his face or manner pointed to a disagreement, his silence managed to be provocating.

It gave Professor Hawkins a pause. "Or was it like that? I can't think of any other possible candidate. Rex wasn't really close to anyone else. Solomon, did you notice something?" He turned towards Yugi's grandfather, who pondered the question.

"What exactly did he say back then? That he was surely getting engaged soon, that he couldn't tell us the lady's name, I'm sure he spoke about a woman…He said that luck was on his side now, which seemed strange given his recent loss…and that next year at latest he would be married. Bragged about it, like with everything he did. Maybe he was with Weevil a lot, but…"

He looked back towards Hawkins who nodded. "But there wouldn't have been any need for this secrecy. He could have just thrown a fit over his loss, but now that you mention it, he really didn't seem mad about that. It was as if the game barely even existed in his mind…" He shook his thoughts away, and Téa leaned forward. "If he had to keep it secret, maybe the woman was still married? Somebody who had to get a divorce, or who was still in mourning over her husband's recent death? Then it would make sense."

Hawkins nodded. "Yes, that would fit…and now, thinking back, I think it was Weevil who was annoyed with Rex…he wasn't at the dinner, you now, which was strange, given that he was Rex's oldest and best friend. He defeated Rex, again, but it was him who was mad at Rex…"

Thoughtfully Sennen turned his head. "Curious." In the light of the fire Yugi caught a small glint of a smile on his face. "You could say that."

Solomon's gaze wandered across the room, back to his old friend. "He said he was lucky, remember… That was what struck me the most, how happy he looked. Like he was drunk with it. And yet he looked oddly defiant, as if he was expecting someone to attack him right then and there. To challenge him for it."

"Like a man defying fate?" Valon spoke lightly, almost jokingly, but there was a dark look in his eyes and in his smile.

Yugi blinked. That was strange; he couldn't have known Rex…was he really talking about him? Or…was he talking about himself? Was that how he saw himself? Gambling with fate…and by the looks of it breaking under the stress? Again Yugi's eyes wandered upwards, back to where Mai was still watching and waiting motionless like a dead woman.

Yugi's grandfather looked over Valon carefully, and Yugi was sure the old man saw the same thing as himself. He looked worried, even as he nodded slowly. "Yes, that would fit. He was excited. I've only seen this kind of excitement on gamblers before, on people who staked heavily and won against all odds."

His friend coughed softly. "Most of the time that was you if I remember correctly."

The friendly rebuke was met with a bright smile, while Valon, not really noticing the conversation around him, stared straight into the fire. "Like he was gathering the courage for doing what he made up his mind to do?" he spoke mostly to himself, but Hawkins still shook his head in answer.

"No, no, Solomon is right. A successful gambler, who bought off a long shot and had trouble believing in his own luck. I saw this look too many times to misremember it now." He threw a sidewards glance towards Yugi's grandfather, who innocently sipped what was left of his whiskey. But when he put the glass down it was with a sigh. "And yet ten minutes later…"

Silence descended over the room, as the real consequence of this game just became clear. For a while nothing was heard apart from the clinking resulting from Joey playing with his glass. Finally he pushed it down on the table. "Ok, I'm not liking this topic, not at all, just to make that clear, but fuck it, I'm going to play devil's advocate then. Something must have happened in those ten minutes. What was it?" His gaze wandered from one person in the room to the next, with the kind of fiery determination that usually meant that Joey made a decision, and that nobody, not even all the ghosts in the world combined could get him away from it. But Yugi noticed that his friend was almost desperately avoiding looking upwards, to Mai, and he barely even glanced at Valon.

Yugi's grandfather looked at him for a moment, and then he nodded. "Ok, let's go over this carefully. We were talking over dinner, Rex was bragging and celebrating and in the middle of it he gets up and leaves the room…"

"Why?" Sennen's interruption came so abruptly that Yugi's grandfather lost his sentence.

Confused he blinked at the strange guest. "I…what do you mean?"

Sennen regarded him calmly. "I just asked why." He spoke softly, a small smile on his lips, but the amusement was gone.

Hawkins frowned, trying to catch long lost memories. "Such a little detail, it didn't seem to matter back then…Oh right, the post! We were so excited to hear the bell, because we had been snowed in for three days already. Biggest snowstorm for years and years, the roads were completely impassable. Rex wanted to see if something had arrived at last, he was waiting for a check from the last tournament, and he came back with a big pile of things. Newspapers and letter… He shortly glanced at the newspaper, to see if there was anything important in it, and went upstairs with his letters…and then." His excitement wavered and the old man sobered rapidly. "And three minutes later we heard the shot."

Valon's head sprang up. "That is your mystery? Isn't it obvious he got some bad news in one of those letter?"

Yugi's grandfather smiled slightly. "Oh yes, it sounds like that doesn't it? But that obvious route was checked, it was one of the first things the coroner asked about. But get this; Rex never opened even one of his letters. The whole pile lay unopened on his dressing room table."

With a headshake Valon let himself fall back. "Damn it. And you are sure of that? He couldn't have destroyed one after reading?"

Hawkins answered with a shake of his head. "No, no. That would be the natural solution, but nothing was burned, nothing torn up. There wasn't even a fire in the room."

Valon just shook his head. "Ok, that's a riddle, alright."

Professor Hawkins shuddered. "Oh yes, it was ghastly business." He looked over to his old friend. "Solomon and I went up just as we heard the shot. We were the ones who found him." A sad smile ghosted his lips. "It was quite a shock."

"So if I see this right you couldn't do anything but call for the police, right?" Sennen fixated his gaze on Professor Hawkins who shook his head.

"No, this place didn't have a telephone back then. I had it set up when we moved in. But we were lucky, if you want to call it that. The local constable was already in the kitchen at the time. One of his dogs had gone astray and he was looking around if anybody had seen him. He wanted to check in with Rex because of the wide land surrounding Royston, thought the dog might have gone there. He arrived just a minute before the shot was fired."

Solomon snorted. "The constable was lucky that he found his dog soon after. There was such a snowstorm back then, I haven't seen the like in years." Quizzically he looked towards his friend. "It was about this time of the year, right? Early January?"

Professor Hawkins shrugged. "Wasn't it February?"

But Yugi's Grandfather disagreed. "No, I'm pretty sure it was January. Me and Ayesha went back to Egypt at the end of January, and that was soon after that. I remember how glad I was for the distraction of work."

With a small smile Sennen leaned forward. "Fixing a date is one of the most difficult things in the world." He spoke almost conversationally. "Unless there is a landmark, some sort of public event happening some time before or after. An assassination of a crowned head or a big murder trial." For Yugi those examples sounded quite macabre, surely there were some other happenings of note which weren't tied to death and murder? But at the same time he was sure that Sennen had something specific in mind with his words, and right, in the next moment Hawkins face brightened up.

"Why of course, it was just before the Magnum case!" He looked around with a smile only to meet a few confused looks. It was clear that the room was neatly divided into people who knew exactly what he was talking about, and people who didn't.

"The Magnum case?" Téa was the one who gave the confusion a voice. "I'm not sure I know about this one?"

Yugi's grandfather smiled. "Ah, yes, those celebrity trials always seem so big and after a few years they blow over. Kind of sad to be honest. You know the actor, Jean-Claude Magnum?" Yugi's wasn't surprised that Joey nodded. His friend was good with movies. What surprised him as the tight, hard look around his eyes.

"He played mostly action movies. He died in his sleep and after his death there was a rumour that his wife poisoned him. Rex knew them, if I remember correctly. He was going on and on about what a pity that this beautiful woman must be married to Magnum. Of course, there wasn't any talk about her killing him back then, and Rex was the type who liked to look. And complain."

Hawkins nodded. "Yes, now it's coming back. I remember reading the paragraph in the paper about the exhumation order. It would have been the very same day… I only saw it with half my mind, the other half still being with Rex lying dead upstairs."

"That phenomenon is very common." Sennen's voice and smile were full of understanding. "In moments of great stress, the mind focuses on some unimportant small detail, which is remembered long afterwards in perfect clarity. It could be something quite irrelevant, like the pattern of wallpaper, but you will never forget it."

Yugi noticed that his grandfather was again measuring their guest with a strange gaze. Obviously the old man had also caught on that there was something taking place. Still he nodded slowly. "Strange that you would say that." His tone made it clear that he didn't find it quite as surprising as he proclaimed. "But I was just remembering how it was back in Rex's room, with him lying dead on the floor, and the shadow of the big tree in front of the window on the snow outside. The snow, the shadow, the tree, they are clearly visible in my mind, and yet I never realised I was looking at them."

"His room was the big one looking out on the porch, was it not?"

By Sennen's question Solomon raised an eyebrow, but he answered it nevertheless in good humour. "Oh yes. You can also still see the tree in question, the big beech just at the angle of the drive."

Sennen nodded as if satisfied, and Yugi's excitement grew. Every words spoken had a purpose he was sure of it, and even more so with his grandfather catching on. Every sentence was another piece in the puzzle, and he was sure the murder trial just mentioned and then passed carelessly aside was one of the biggest parts. He just wasn't sure yet what exactly Sennen was driving at, but he was more convinced than ever as to who was the master hand.

After a short pause, Hawkins reverted to the preceding topic. "Yes, the Magnum case, I remember it now. God, it seemed so long ago. Back then it was quite a sensation. Partly because he was a movie star, partly because of her. I never met her sadly, but I heard she was beautiful. Remarkably fair." Fair…maybe it was instinct that made Yugi raise his eyes at that moment, but he could swear he saw Mai's hand slide upwards for a moment, an involuntary gesture that got cut off abruptly. It seemed like she shrinked backwards for a moment, as if struck by a blow. Her gold, fair hair caught a small reflection of light.

The crash of a falling glass tore him out of his thoughts. Valon, having helped himself to another glass of whiskey had let the decanter slip through his fingers. "Damn it. I'm sorry, I can't think what happened. Damn." The last word was muttered much softer, and Hawkins waved of his apology.

"Quite alright. It's just glass, and if we are sticking with omens for the New Year broken glass is supposed to bring good luck anyway. Curious…" He interrupted himself and blinked. "Didn't she do it too? Mrs Magnum? She smashed the port decanter, didn't she?"

Yugi's grandfather blinked, and then nodded slowly. "Yes." Noticing Yugi's and Téa's confused looks, he explained. "Magnum had the habit of drinking one glass of port every night before going to bed. The day after his death, one of the servants saw how his wife took out the decanter and smashed it deliberately. That set the servants talking all right. They knew she had hated him… She was pressured into the marriage, being younger and without money, and Magnum was by all accords a brute at home. So the rumours grew and in the end, some months later, relatives of his applied for an exhumation order. And as it turned out he had indeed been poisoned. What was it again, arsenic?"

Professor Hawkins shook his head. "Strychnine, I think. But it doesn't really matter. But the case was very clear. There was only one person with motive and opportunity. She stood her trial, and when she was acquitted it was through lack of evidence, not because her innocence was proven. If you want to say so, you could call her lucky." He smiled sadly. "Poor girl. It was understandable why she did it, but at the same time there was never much doubt that she murdered him. I wonder what happened to her afterwards."

"Her sister took her in for a while I heard." Yugi's grandfather sighed. "But she lived in America, Vegas I think, and there Magnum and the whole circus were even more famous. So she managed to disappear from the public eye… I think she travelled, probably changed her name. Best thing she could do, under the circumstances. Hopefully she managed to get something of a life back." The story was fascinating, but as bad as he felt, Yugi couldn't help but notice, that Valon's right hand grasped his glass so tightly, that he was in danger of smashing it again. Interesting…

Yugi's grandfather stood up, and helped himself to another drink. "Well, we didn't get that much closer as to why Rex killed himself." He spoke lightly, but as he turned around and faced Sennen a small, challenging glint was sparkling in his eyes. "The court of inquiry could have done better, couldn't they, Mr. Sennen?"

Sennen laughed. It was a strange laugh, a clear deep tone, taking a up the challenge just presented to him. A bit mocking but mostly sad. Yugi's breath hitched, and he noticed that it made everybody else jump as well. "Are you sure about that, Mr. Muto? Or is the past still too strong with you?" His smile was gentle, but tempered with the same challenge that had been around him all evening. "Your preconceived notions may still hamper you thoughts. But you see, I'm an outsider, a stranger passing by. I see only the facts."

Yugi's grandfather snorted. "The facts?" He was clearly amused…and very interested. "Ok, then maybe you can tell us about the facts. What exactly do you see?"

Sennen's smile deepened. "A clear sequence of events, which you outlined yourselves, but maybe while missing the significance of it. Let us go back ten years and look again at what we see – untrammelled by ideas or sentiment."

With the last words Sennen had risen. Behind him the flames lit fitfully. Halfway hidden in this dance of light and shadow his eyes glowed like the flames themselves. His voice was low and hypnotically compelling, night black velvet hiding sharp steel. "You are at dinner. Rex Raptor announces his plans to get engaged. You think he is talking about Weevil, but now you are not so sure. He has the restless, excited manner of a man who has successfully defied fate – who, in your own words, pulled off a big coup against overwhelming odds. Then, with the clanging of a bell he walks out to get the long delayed mails. He doesn't open his letters, but you yourselves said that he opened the paper to glance at the news. That was ten years ago, we can't really know what was news that day. Maybe and earthquake, maybe a political crisis? But we do know one thing about the contents of this paper. It contained one small paragraph – _a paragraph stating that the permission to exhume Jean-Claude Magnums body had been given three days ago."_

"What?" Despite the exclamations of surprise Sennen went on. Yugi watched him with held breath, but at the same time he noticed that Joey's face was getting darker and darker. He knew something, he knew what exactly Sennen was going to say, and that worried Yugi more than anything else.

"Raptor goes up to his room, and then he looks out of his window and sees something. Mr Muto" – he indicated a small nod in the direction of Yugi's grandfather – "told us that the curtain was not drawn across the window, and that it looked out onto the drive. So what did Rex Raptor see? What could he have seen that forced him to take his own life?"

He paused for a moment and nearly instantly Professor Hawkins reacted. "What do you mean? What did he see?"

Sennen turned to him, and spoke slowly, giving every word an impression of importance. But for Yugi he also sounded sad. "I think that he saw a policeman. A policeman who had come looking for his dog. But Rex Raptor didn't know that. He just saw a policeman."

It took a while for the intended meaning to sink in, but when it did the reaction was immediate. Yugi's grandfather exhaled slowly. "Dear god…Magnum?" He interrupted himself. "Yes, that could work…"

Next to him his friend shook his head. "But Rex wasn't there when Magnum died. He was alone with his wife." But even Professor Hawkins sounded doubtful, and Yugi's grandfather shook his head almost immediately.

"He didn't need to. If he had been there a week or so earlier…Strychnine isn't very soluble. When put into the port, the greater part of it would be in the last glass, long after he left." His lips formed a strange sad smile. "It would fit Rex, a brutal and short way to what he wanted, without any immediate visible risk. His playing style was similar."

Valon's chair stumbled backwards as he suddenly jumped up. He was pale, and his hands were shaking even worse than before. "Then why did she break the decanter? Can you tell me that!?" He was almost pleading, even while he screamed out his words, and when Sennen looked at him, a compassionate shimmer appeared in his eyes.

The strange guest turned around, and to Yugi's surprise he found himself face to face with an encouraging smile and a pair of challenging red eyes, as Sennen addressed him directly for the first time this evening. "Maybe Mr. Muto could tell us that. I think you might have a theory."

It was a challenge but Sennen's smile was gentle, and Yugi nodded slowly, even though his throat suddenly felt raw. This was it. Sennen had just left the final move of the game up to him, and suddenly he was no longer an observer but a player himself. And he was sure he knew the answer. After all she was his friend, and he had played against her many times before.

"I think she…she suspected what Rex had done, and while she didn't want to marry him, she also didn't want him to die for what he did. She knew he wouldn't last in prison…She pitied him, I think." Yugi had spoken his part, and as he returned Sennen's smile the stranger just nodded, his own smile deepening.

Suddenly a long trembling sigh filled the air.

Joey jumped out of his seat with a curse on his lips. "Fuck it, what was that?!" Yugi could have told him that it was just Mai in the gallery above, where Joey already knew she was, but the effect was too good to ruin it now.

Sennen was laughing softly. "I think my car should be ready by now. Thank you for your hospitality, Professor Hawkins." He bowed respectfully. "I hope I could do something for my acquaintance today."

The Professor blinked at him. "Ah yes?"

Seeing his confusion, Sennen looked up with a smile. "Didn't you think about that? Rex loved that woman. In his way." The last words were spoken with a kind of grimace. "He killed her husband, selfishly believing that the way would be free now, and when retribution overtook him, as he thought, he took his own life. But so he left her to face the music."

Hawkins signed. "She was acquitted…but yes, I don't imagine that this was enough."

Sennen nodded. "Definitely not. She only got acquitted because nothing could be proven. There are a lot of bad things that could and can be said about Rex, but I don't think that he wanted this to happen. I fancy, and it's only a fancy, that she may still be facing the music."

Valon had sunk back into his chair, his face buried into his hands. Joey stood next to him, eyes on the floor, with a dark unreadable look on his face.

Sennen turned back towards Yugi. "Goodnight, Mr. Muto. You are interested in the game, are you not?"

Surprised Yugi laughed. "Ah, yes, you could say so. And please, call me Yugi. All my friends do." He didn't know why he offered his name towards Sennen, just that it felt right for a moment.

Sennen paused for a second, and Yugi had the small triumph of knowing he had surprised the enigmatic stranger. Then Sennen smiled a warm smile which made his eyes shimmer like flames. "Of course. My first name is Atem, as you but…" He hesitated for a moment. "But I prefer Yami."

Yugi nodded happily, and Yami turned before he stopped again.

Looking back towards Yugi he seemed to be puzzled for a moment. "I know it's not a game, but if you would turn your interest towards the drama for any reason, I must recommend the harlequinade. It's dying out nowadays, but it repays attention. The symbolism might be a bit difficult to follow, but –"

And there was it again, that sly, hidden smile that had accompanied Yami for much of the evening. "The immortals are always immortal, you know? Goodnight, I hope we'll meet again soon." With that he strode out into the dark. As Yugi watched him go, the coloured glass repeated the effect it had woven before, giving Yami the impression of wearing a motley...

Inside the hall, the houseguests were slowly moving towards their rooms. Yugi stopped Joey on the stairs, when he was sure nobody would listen. "You knew that Mai was Magnum's wife." It was a statement, not a question, unimportant really, but Yugi needed to now. "And…that they thought she murdered him."

Joey sighed. They were standing by a window, and thus could follow the figure of Yami down the driveway. From a side door a woman's figure came running towards him. For a moment they spoke, and then she retracted her steps towards the house. "I wasn't really sure." Joey's voice startled Yugi out of his thoughts. "Mai was kinda drunk when she told the story, otherwise she probably wouldn't have spoken about it at all. But it was enough to piece a story together." He grimaced. "I didn't count on Raptor being involved thought."

Outside Mai had now nearly reached the house. Her whole face was transformed, she seemed to glow with happiness. Another figure joined her. Yugi could recognise Valon, with the same unbelieving happiness as his wife, mixed with reproach and regret.

Joey followed his gaze. "Her sister took her in, helped her change her name and everything. But she told Valon the truth and ... damn it." He rolled his eyes, watching the two people talking. "He was afraid. The bastard loved her enough to marry her, he knew the truth and he was still afraid that something could have happen, that she might…" He shook his head but for all his curses there was an understanding in his eyes, and when the two figures on the driveway embraced, he couldn't help but smile. "Guess sometimes you really need to know the facts." Smiling both of the looked down on the pair on the driveway, lost in their own world, while around them slowly snow started to fall.


	2. The Face in the Window

**The Face in the Window**

With a sigh, Miho let herself fall back onto the grass, hiding her face behind the newspaper she had just read. "Mai was right." Her voice under the newspaper sounded muffled. "This is a catastrophe in the making."

Sitting next to her, Yugi had to hide a smile. A couple of month had passed since that strange Sylvester night, the cold winter had given way to a warm spring, and Mai and Valon had long since returned to America for another tournament. Originally Yugi had been interested in that too, but work in his grandfather's game shop and on his own project had stolen his time. Even though he seemed to be stuck on that last one. So when Mai had asked him to visit a party held by Miho's parents in her place, he was relieved to have a break. Looking down onto the newspaper hiding Miho's face, he couldn't help but think back to Mai's argument when she had asked him. Miho had just repeated her words.

Mr and Mrs. Nosaka are entertaining a party at Greenways House, the paper read. Among the guests are Mr. and Mrs. Arkana, Pegasus Crawford, Cecelia Drage, Bandit Keith and Yugi Muto. An innocent list that still managed to trouble so many people.

From beneath the paper Miho glanced up towards him. "That's not funny." Her dry tone clearly belied her words. "I love Mother, but she is a bit oblivious to those things."

Yugi just shrugged. "Possibly, but I'm still not sure what exactly is such a catastrophe." Mai hadn't been really clear; she just told him she wanted to have someone there for her sister, Cecelia. "Not that she would need any help." He could still hear her voice. "But that thing is going to be very awkward, and you are a neutral party. And the nicest person I know, which could be of use." He still wasn't sure if that last sentence was a compliment or not.

Miho looked at him searchingly, and, finding him really clueless, she sat up with another sigh. "I'm talking about Arkana. You have heard of him, of course."

Yugi nodded. "Fleetingly. Isn't he that magician?"

Miho agreed. "Illusionist mostly, but yes. He has been the talk of London for a while, so of course my mother was overjoyed to have him here. And his new bride of course. It was quite the talk when he married his assistant. She is very charming but still…" Her eyes clouded over a little, as she collected her thoughts. "She seems so young compared to him. Still a child."

Yugi nodded slowly. He had met Catherine Arkana shortly. "She seems to be quite charming."

Miho looked ahead into the distance. "Yes…poor child." Then, before Yugi could ask what she meant, she continued on. "Pegasus is…well you know him."

Now Yugi had to snort. Oh yes, the creator of Duel Monster truly was what one would call unique. Full of childish humour and enthusiasm, which, while true, hid a mind like a razor blade. He still had his joyful "Yugi-boy!" with which the man had greeted him.

Miho answered his grimace with a laugh; obviously she was thinking about the same event. Then she continued. "They all grew up together, him and Arkana… and Cecelia." On that last name her voice took on a strange tone. "There were rumours, you know, about Arkana and Cecelia." She shrugged. "There was never anything proven, and well, Mai's trial happened shortly afterwards but if the talking tongues are right she and Arkana spent a lot of time together when he started with his shows in Vegas. Alone." She shook her head. "And now he is married and Mother invited them all at the same time… She just knew that he came from Vegas and since Cecelia does too, she thought they would have something in common. Nice thought but" – again she sighed – "I tried to talk to her about it, but she wouldn't really listen. She still doesn't know that Cecelia and Arkana were once…" she trailed off, but her silence spoke volumes.

Yugi watched her carefully. "Were they really? I mean, if it's just rumours."

His friend just shrugged. "Nobody really knows, but it seems very likely. Like I said, they spent a lot of time together. She even assisted in one of his shows; it was quite a scandal. And now she accepted the invitation."

Her voice was dark and Yugi slowly began to understand why Mai wanted someone to be here. He just couldn't grasp why that someone had to be him. He had never met her sister before, and he really didn't know what good he could do in the midst of a love chaos. It wasn't like he had a lot of practice in that field after all. Games were his metier; human emotions…eh, he could use a bit of work.

Carefully he lowered his voice. "And Catherine? Ah, does…does she know about that?"

Because that whole thing sounded more awkward by the minute. Miho glanced towards him, and her lips twitched into a dark smile. "What do you think? Arkana doesn't seem like the type who would talk about such things in length. But some well-meaning friend will surely enlighten her soon." She looked up, and her face grew even darker. "Oh god, and here is Bandit Keith. I met him last winter in Egypt. Quite unpleasant experience really." Her voice dropped and she started to murmur. "Please don't come over please don't come over…damn." That last word was barely audible, and her face sprang into a forced smile when Keith did let himself fall into the grass beside her. On the way he threw Yugi an angry look, and he was roughly reminded of Keith's rivalry with Joey. His best friend had served the American Champion a harsh defeat on the duel field, and Keith had never forgiven either of them for that.

Bandit Keith was a big man, full of a brutal vitality and seemingly endless anger. When he smiled now it looked like a wolf baring its teeth. "Finally somebody to talk to. The Arkanas are stuck in their turtle dove game, only requiring two, not three players; Pegasus is off into wherever his mind wanders to; and your mother nearly wanted to talk to me."

There was no sympathy for either the people he mentioned in his voice, and Miho, who found herself the sole target of his attention since he seemed determined to ignore Yugi, forced out another smile. "I'm so sorry for you. That sounds dreadful." She couldn't have sounded more insincere without being impolite, but that flew right over Keith's head. He didn't want to hear it, so he ignored it. But Yugi knew too well that he remembered every slight for years and years. He was still angry at Pegasus after all, for a defeat the businessman had served him two years ago. Yugi had found the story charming and funny, how Pegasus had given a young boy the instructions he needed to beat Keith, but the duelist himself had found that humiliating, and since then he had sworn revenge towards Pegasus.

Not wanting Miho to face Keith's wrath he nudged her gently. She just turned to him and, hidden from Keith sight, rolled her eyes, but when she turned back to listen to him again, her smile seemed to be a little bit sincerer.

Keith laughed loudly. "Oh yes, it was. I nearly had to hear some suspicious nonsense about a family ghost."

Miho's smile dimmed a bit again. "It's not really a family ghost."

Keith looked at her. "No? And you don't believe in that nonsense do you? I thought you were supposed to be smart."

Miho's left eye twitched, and before her patience unraveled Yugi jumped to her rescue. "The ghost is tied to the house. My grandfather told me about that."

Even hidden behind his sunglasses the anger in Keith's eyes was clearly visible. "Really? Your grandfather?" It was astonishing how much contempt could fit into a word. "And what does this ghost do, according to that old bore? Clank its chains and howl in the middle of the night?"

Yugi took a deep breath and tried to swallow his anger. "No." His voice was icy. "It's the window…" But he interrupted himself as he saw three figures approaching.

A girl, barely a woman, walking between two men. Both of the men were tall and slim, with a penchant for a quite flamboyant style, but that was where their similarities ended. Pegasus' long silver hair, remarkable since he was barely older than twenty-five, couldn't really be mistaken, just like his open smile and the dangerous glint in his eyes. Arkana, on the other hand, had a small, subdued smile; short black hair combed back; and while also charming was much less overstating in his approach. The most noticeable thing about him was the mask, which covered the upper half of his face. Blue and black striped, it was hard to miss, but what could have been written off as a stage performer's eccentricities hid a much darker story. A few months ago, shortly after his wedding, one of Arkana's stage tricks had turned towards tragedy. Nobody knew what exactly had caused the accident, and Yugi had never heard any details, but when Arkana had woken up in the hospital he had to live with the fact that his face would be forever scarred. After the accident he had taken some time away from the stage, and his quiet time now led him and his new bride to England and Greenway House. He couldn't be ignored, and just like with Pegasus there was glint in his eye that spoke about things hidden behind his polished façade.

And between those two walked Catherine Arkana, who until three months ago had been Catherine O'Connell and Arkanas Assistant. She was a slender figure with doleful brown eyes and golden hair that seemed to glow in the afternoon sun like a saint's halo around her small face. An excited smile, with a slightly wistful touch, lay on her lips, and Yugi started to understand what Miho had meant when she had called her a child. She looked so young. On the other hand, who was he to talk; he still got taken for a school boy sometimes, as annoying as that was.

When Miho jumped up and waved towards the newcomers excitedly, she couldn't quite keep the relief out of her smile. "Come and sit down. But please don't interrupt." She grinned mischievously at her friend. "Yugi was just going to tell us a ghost story."

Yugi was sure she mainly insisted on the story to annoy Keith, whose eye roll was visible even behind his shades, but he still was blind sighted by that. With a bashful smile he shook his head. "It's not…I'm not good at stories." But his hopes of getting out of this trap vanished, when Catherine gave him a small smile.

"Oh please. I love ghost stories." She dropped down on the grass next to him, and looked up expectantly. Her husband followed her, but his look was more thoughtful. "The ghost of Greenways house, right?"

Yugi nodded. "Yes. You know the story?" He tried not to sound too hopeful. If Arkana knew the story, maybe he could tell it, and relieve Yugi of this duty.

The magician nodded. "I stayed here once before." With a slight turn of the head he turned towards Miho. "That was before the Elliots had to sell, and your parents bought it. They called the ghost the Watching Cavalier, didn't they?"

Catherine tilted her head. "The Watching Cavalier…" She repeated the name softly. "I like the sound of that. Very interesting. Oh please go on." She turned her smile towards Yugi, and he was suddenly reminded of the other reason, beside his own less than perfect talent for storytelling, that made this a bad idea.

He shook his head. "Oh no, no it isn't that interesting."

But again his hopes of being done with it were crushed when Arkana smiled at him sardonically. "Ok, now you have to tell it. That hint or reluctance just made it more fascinating."

Behind his back Yugi could hear Keith's laughter. "Oh yes, please tell us the story. You seemed so sure about it before. Are you nervous because of the audience, or is your grandfather's story really that boring?"

Ok, that was it. Keith could talk all he wanted, but he wouldn't drag Yugi's grandfather into this. With a sharp sigh and eyes drawn in anger, Yugi started his tale. "The story isn't boring. There just isn't that much to tell." He stopped to collect his thoughts, and when he continued he was calmer. "My grandfather claims that it centres around a cavalier ancestor of the Elliot family, the ones who build that house. His wife had a roundhead lover, who killed the husband in an upstairs room. The guilty pair fled, but when the wife turned back to look if anybody was following them, she saw her dead husband's face in the window, staring after her. That is the legend behind the story, but the ghost itself is only concerned with the pane of glass in the room the husband was murdered in. An irregular stain, nearly invisible from a near distance. If you look at that glass from afar it gives the effect of a man looking out." He smiled. "The owners switched out the glass pane many times, but I have heard the stain always returns."

For a moment he was glad that Joey wasn't there to hear this story. He missed his friend, but Joey would have been scared out of his mind at the thought of staying in a house haunted by a ghost, even though that ghost stuck to one window pane and one room only, and never made any notice or tried to scare people. It was a very polite ghost, really. But for Joey a ghost was a ghost. The events on New Year's Eve had been taxing enough for his nerves…

New Year 's Eve…

Yugi's thoughts grinded to an abrupt stop. For the last two months or so he had avoided thinking about that evening, and the strange visitor who had turned the party into a strange game of life and death. Despite his talk about possibly meeting again soon, Yami had never shown up again… Maybe it was better that way. Yugi had enough to do without worrying over someone he had barely even known…

"Oh that story is really creepy." Pegasus shuddered playfully, his brown eyes sparkling. "So which window is it, Yugi-boy? You can't start such a story and leave out the most important detail?" In mock anger the Creator of Duel Monsters wagged his finger against Yugi, and torn out of his ponderings of lost chances, Yugi had to smile. He was starting to realise that answering that question completely could possibly be a bad idea.

"It's not visible from here, I'm afraid. It is round the other side of the house, but grandfather said it was boarded up from the inside ages ago…forty years, if I remember correctly.

Pegasus let out a disappointed sight. "What a pity. Why would they ever do such a thing? I thought the ghost couldn't walk. Or is there something you are not telling us Yugi?" He smiled but there was a knowing glint in his eye. Yugi was again reminded that Pegasus was harder to fool than most people would expect from him. Still he shook his head.

"Well, no, the ghost doesn't walk."

Next to him Catherine breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good to know. I was almost worried for a moment." She smiled kindly at Yugi, who had to stifle an uncomfortable laugh.

"Yeah, right…there was probably a superstitious feeling about it, or so…"

He was a bit relieved when Bandit Keith, getting bored with all this 'talk about ghosts, is this a scout meeting or what' turned the conversation around to other suspicious nonsense, especially Egyptian sand diviners and their claim to be able to read the future.

"I met a lot of them in Egypt, and I can tell you they were frauds, all of them. Always telling you vague things about the past, but won't ever dare to talk about the future." He laughed. "They didn't even want to tell me some sucking up nonsense about me winning that tournament there, and I actually did that later."

Pegasus shook his head with a smile, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Strange." He spoke the word like he would taste one of his wines. "I should have thought making claims about the future would be easier than talking about the past. But trick and magic are your metier, aren't they?" With a big smile he turned towards Arkana whose answering smile was very restrained.

"In a way. But I never claimed to be able to see the future. I'm not one of those charlatans." He turned towards his wife, and the anger seemed to leave his posture a bit. "Also I think it's actually illegal to tell the future in this country. Catherine persuaded a gypsy into telling her fortune, but the woman gave the shilling back and said there was nothing to be done, or some similar nonsense."

Catherine's smile was strangely melancholic. "Maybe she saw something so terrible she was afraid of telling me about it."

Keith snorted. "Nonsense. That just shows how much of a swindle that is. Don't be afraid. I'm sure there is no bad faith hanging over you." He laughed, and when Catherine joined him it seemed to disperse the dark shadows that had suddenly loomed over the group with her words. But still, Yugi couldn't suppress the shiver that ran down his spine. He knew a bit about fortune teller's tricks from his grandmother's side, and anyone refusing to tell somebody's fortune was really, really strange. But the thought disappeared, for when he looked up he saw two women approaching from the house.

Both were blond, but nobody could have ever mistaken them for each other, not even from the distance. One of them had short hair, and wore a terribly bright green dress; while the other one, with her long golden locks, was Mai's splitting image. Only her dress, creamy and long, was very different from something his old friend would wear. The first woman was his hostess, Mrs. Nosaka, Miho's mother. The second one, of whom he had heard but whom he had never met, was Mai's sister, Cecelia Drage.

"Here is Miss Drage." Mrs. Nosaka's voice, loud and cheerfully satisfied, was not one you could ever mishear. "All friends of yours I think." Hidden from her mother's eyes by here inattention and Keith's massive figure, Miho buried her head in her hands. Yugi was sure he saw her mouthing something like "typical," but in truth he wasn't paying attention. He was watching Cecelia.

After all that talk about a possible lingering love and long lingering scandal, he had expected the worst. Instead there was a natural smile, happy enough to let her face shine like the sun. "Arkana, nice to meet you. It has been ages. I'm so sorry I couldn't come to the wedding. And you must be his wife." With a friendly smile she shook Catherine's hand. "You must be tired after meeting all of your husband's old friends."

Catherine's answer was a laugh, and the reassurance that she would never tire of meeting new people.

Then Cecelia turned towards Pegasus. To Yugi's surprise, the normally so cheerful man had shut up completely. Instead of riling his friend up even more, or saying anything really, he was looking down and his fingers played nervously with the grass next to him. "Pegasus, hello." Cecelia's tone was almost the same, but there was a subtle difference now, a warming quality that had been absent before. Her smile dimmed a little, turned more hopeful than sparkling, but when Pegasus finally looked up to return her greeting, it lighted up her face again. Pegasus also smiled, but again, it was not really one of his usual variants of sly grins or teasing glees. Yugi had never seen the game designer that way. Slowly Cecelia sat down, and within seconds she became the centre of the group, naturally and inevitably, as if it couldn't be any other way. Catherine and Arkana soon drew her into a talk about stage magic.

With a last glance and a shake of his head Pegasus stood up.

"Sitting like that is always so tiring. Yugi-boy, are you up to a stroll? I really need to move." Yugi was fairly sure he only got asked because he just happened to be in Pegasus line of sight at the moment, but since the man was obviously looking for any kind of escape or distraction at the moment, he really didn't have it in him to disagree. Together the two of the walk off across the lawn. For a moment Yugi was sure that Cecelia's eyes followed them.

"That was a very interesting tale, that ghost story of yours." Pegasus was talking but his eyes were focused on something else, something existing only in his thoughts.

Yugi nodded. "I can show you the window." He led the way around the west side of the house with the growing feeling that at the moment he could have led Pegasus anywhere he wanted and the man wouldn't have noticed. It was concerning to see the normally so sharp minded business man so distracted.

On the west side of the house was a small formal garden, the Privy Garden. Miho had called i that when she had given him the tour, and Yugi had to admit the name fitted, for it was surrounded by high holly hedges and even the entrance to it ran zigzag between some prickly hedges. Yugi had loved the charming secret those walls hid, a kind of old world charm of flower beds, flagged paths and a low, exquisitely carved stone seat. Yugi recognised this from his grandfather's descriptions, and turned to point up towards the house. With Greenways house running from north to south, the west side was small and showed only one window on the first floor, almost overgrown with ivy, and clearly boarded up from the inside.

Pegasus squinted his eyes. "Hmm, I can only see a slight discolouration on the panes, nothing more. Disappointing."

Yugi smiled. "That just means we are still too close. I think there is a clearing up in the woods with a better view."

The way led out of the Privy Garden and turned sharply to the left into the woods. A certain enthusiasm of showmanship claimed hold over Yugi, the joy of showing the ghost of his grandfather's story to someone else, even though he clearly noticed that Pegasus was absent and inattentive.

"Grandfather told me they made another window when they boarded this one up. The new one faces south, towards the lawn we were sitting on just now." He interrupted himself for a moment and bit his lip worriedly. "If I'm honest, I think the Arkanas have the room now. That's…that's why I really didn't want to talk about it. Catherine could have been nervous if she realized that she's practically sleeping in a haunted room." Joey would have flipped that much, Yugi was willing to bet.

Pegasus just nodded absentmindedly. "I see."

Yugi looked at him sharply more convinced than ever that the other man had not heard a word of what he had said. "Very interesting"

Pegasus frowned and kicked with his foot at some foxgloves growing near the path. "She ought not to have come. She ought never to have come." Yugi was practically air for him at that moment, not really different from the trees surrounding them. "No." Pegasus still repeated himself. "She ought never to have come."

Yugi would have bet his whole deck and possibly his grandfather's shop on the fact that Pegasus was not speaking about Catherine Arkana now. "You think not?" he asked. If he was honest with himself he was actually growing a bit curious about the whole thing.

Pegasus shook his head, a foreboding look on his face. "I was there, back then when she assisted Arkana with his shows. The three of us worked on this together. Arkana and I and Cecelia. He used real pistols for the act you know? She is a wonderful woman and a fine shot." A half hidden smile lay on his lips brought on by memories, but even that could not quell the dark look on his face. He interrupted himself abruptly.

"What made them ask her?" he sounded almost angry, and Yugi blinked surprised, before he shrugged.

"Ah…ignorance, I think?" It was the best guess he could come up with. Miho's mother hadn't meant any harm; she had honestly thought it would be a nice surprise for everyone, a meeting between old friends. But she never met any harm…Pegasus was still talking to himself.

"There is going to be trouble. There has to be something that could be done…" Trouble…that was what everybody seemed to think, and what Yugi had believed to be true too. But then he had met Cecelia and…well it didn't seem like she was all that concerned with the wedding…or likely to cause trouble about it.

"But surely Cecelia…?" He couldn't even finish the sentence before Pegasus shook his head aggressively.

"I'm talking about Arkana." He spoke fast, almost harshly, and as if realising that he paused. "You see there's Catherine to consider."

Yugi nodded even though it was clear that Pegasus had all but forgotten she existed until this very minute. "She was his assistant, was she not? They married quickly after the accident?" He was guessing now, but Pegasus nodded.

"Yes, last winter in Cairo. Catherine was always a fan of the Luxor Casino and she wanted to see the real Pyramids." There was hint of distaste in his features during the last sentence, and Yugi hid a grimace. His grandmother was from Egypt; he had spent some time in his youth there and comparing the Pyramids to the Las Vegas Casino was grating on his nerves. Pegasus continued without noticing. "It was a very quick business; they had barely been engaged for six weeks."

That was fast. Too fast for Yugi's taste, but then he wasn't the one who had to settle for such haste. If it had fit the Arkanas… "She seems to be very charming." That was really all he could say about Catherine after the short meeting, and Pegasus' snort came as a surprise.

"Oh she is, make no mistake. And Arkana adores her…but neither of that will make a difference." Pegasus shook his head and again repeated to himself, with the pronoun that to him meant one person only: "Hang it all, she shouldn't have come..."

Just then they stopped upon a high grassy knoll at some little distance from the house. Yugi was almost relieved to be able to change the topic back towards the ghost, since he was growing uncomfortable with the revelations he had just received. Really, that was not something he should actually know about it. Pegasus would tear his head off, figuratively speaking, if he ever figured out just what he had shared. For all his flamboyance the man really was a private person, and he protected that privacy. He lived on a private island, for god's sake. And he had managed to become a business tycoon before he was twenty-five, without his father's money as back up. The fall-out over the son's childish interests had been legendary, and part of Pegasus' nimbus. Even if most of the rumours about what happened to his enemies were exaggerated, Yugi really didn't want to get on Pegasus bad side. Also, he really had no idea what to say about all that. He had very little experience in love, his first crush having turned into a deep friendship and nothing more. What could he say that would be helpful in this situation?

In a sweeping gesture full of relief and the returning pride of the showman Yugi stretched out his arm. "There!"

They couldn't have arrived at a better time. Dusk was growing fast, and the windows were lit up in an orange glow. But inside this glow a man's face was clearly visible, apparently pressed against one of the panes, with a plumed Cavaliers hat on his head.

Pegasus blinked, and for the first time since Cecelia's arrival he seemed to return from the land of his own worries and thoughts. "How curious. Really very curious. And you said it always returns when the glass is changed?"

Yugi nodded. "Oh yes, that was one of the more interesting parts of the story. If my grandfather is to be believed" – and that wasn't always certain with the old man and his habit of embellishing his tales – "the pane has been replaced eleven times already, perhaps even twelve. He said that the last time was twelve years ago, when the owner of the house tried to destroy the myth. But always the same thing happens. The stain returns, gradually, not all at once; the discolouration takes time to spread. Normally it should take a month or two."

Now Pegasus was definitely showing signs of real interest. He leaned forward and shivered slightly. "How odd. And there is no accounting for those kind of things, isn't there?" He turned around and looked at Yugi sharply. "So what is the real reason for boarding up the window from inside? And don't try a half-baked story again, Yugi-boy, I want the truth." His teeth gleamed excitingly and Yugi shrugged his shoulder. He was happy that Pegasus seemed to be normal again, whatever that meant for the man, but the uncomfortable feeling from before had suddenly returned.

"Well, there are rumours…my Grandfather said that the room was considered…unlucky. The Evershams had it just before they got divorced. And Stanley and his wife were staying there, when he ran off with a chorus girl." He had barely an idea who these people were supposed to be. Actually, he probably shouldn't know about this part of the curse at all. His grandfather never directly told him about that, he had just overheard when the old man had talked about it with Yugi's grandmother. But that was the other reason why he didn't want to tell Catherine Arkana about which room she now was living in.

Pegasus raised an eyebrow. "Danger to morals, not to life then. Dear god, this ghost is truly unique…" He shook his head. "You would think the ghost of a horned husband would be interested in keeping people from committing adultery, not encouraging them. Resentful fella." He grinned, but Yugi wasn't quite ready to share his humour yet. He couldn't stop thinking about the Arkanas and the fact that it was their room now…Hopefully nothing would happen.

Silence accompanied them on their way back to the house. With the soft turf absorbing their footsteps, and each lost in his own thoughts, they became unwilling eavesdroppers. They were rounding the corner of the holly hedge, when they heard the words, spoken with a deadly intensity coming from the privy garden. "You are going to regret this." It was a woman's voice, sweet but deadly serious, and Yugi only recognised it when he realised that Pegasus suddenly stood there rooted to the spot. Arkana's voice answered, low and uncertain so that his words could not be distinguished, but Cecelia was clearly understandable and her words would be remembered later. "Jealousy…it can drive on to the devil…it is the devil. It can even drive one to black murder. Be careful, Arkana, for God's sake, please be careful."

Those words were the last Yugi could hear, before Cecelia dashed out of the Privy Garden in front of them and went round the corner of the house without ever seeing them. She was walking swiftly, almost running, like a woman pursued. The feeling of dread that had haunted him the whole afternoon returned now in full force and Yugi couldn't help but feel as if some tragedy, coming swift and inexorable, stood before them all.

But later that evening, when he met everyone again, those fears seemed ridiculous, like a bad dream. Everything seemed normal and pleasing. Cecelia, charming and happy, didn't show the faintest sign of strain, and Catherine couldn't have looked more at ease. In fact the two women seemed to get along perfectly, and even Arkana seemed to be in high spirits. The only person who was looking worried was Mrs. Nosaka, Miho's Mother. Since Yugi just happened to be the one who was in her line of sights at this moment, he had the pleasure of listening to her worries at length.

"It sounds silly, I know, but there is something about this day or this house that's giving me the creeps. And frankly, I've sent for the glazier, without telling Ned."

Yugi blinked confusedly. "The glazier?"

His hostess nodded. "To put a new pane of glass into that cursed window. Ned is so proud of it, claims that it gives the house tone and atmosphere. That's nice of course, but I don't like it. No, we will have a nice modern pane of glass, without any nasty stories attached to it." She sounded so sure of herself, so determined that Yugi could barely find it in himself to correct her.

"But ah, I thought the stain always comes back? Or so I hear," he added hastily, when his hostess shot him a quick glance.

She just shrugged. "Oh yes, I heard that too. And if it's so, that's against nature, isn't it?"

Yugi politely declined to answer that.

Mrs. Nosaka continued undaunted. "But be as it may, we are not so bankrupt, Ned and I, that we can't afford a new pane of glass every month…or every week if it has to be that way."

Yugi shook his head after he watched his hostess turn unto another talking partner. That was an interesting method of fighting that ghost. He wasn't sure who would win this test of stubbornness, the cavalier ghost or Miho's very determined mother. But it was interesting that she was also feeling uneasy. The tension in the atmosphere was getting to her too, even if she attributed it to an attenuated ghost and not the clash among her guests.

With a last shake of the head he turned around to go to bed and hopefully have some rest from the drama taking place now, but it seemed that he was fated to receive yet another piece of the puzzle that was laid out during this visit.

He was going up the wider staircase towards his bedroom, when he spotted Pegasus and Cecelia sitting together in an alcove in the big hall. Neither noticed him, and he couldn't help but overhear parts of their conversation. When Cecelia spoke there was only the faintest hint of irritation in her golden voice.

"Not, I didn't have the least idea that the Arkanas were going to be here. I probably wouldn't have come if I knew." She laughed faintly, but it didn't sound quite that happy. "But I can assure you, my dear Pegasus, now that I'm here, I'm not going to run away."

Before he passed on up the staircase out of earshot Yugi caught a glance at Pegasus' worried face. He couldn't help but wonder if the man was asking himself the same question as he did now. Was it true? Did Cecelia really not know that the Arkanas would be here? And what would come out of this meeting?

On the next day, in the clear light of the morning all the worries of last night seemed to be little more than a bad dream. Yugi was sure that he had just been too melodramatic, that yes of course there had been a little strain, under the circumstances that was understandable, inevitable really, but nothing more. People were able to adjust to new situations after all, and all his thoughts and feelings about an impending catastrophe…no that had been just nerves, his own confusion about what exactly was going on, and what part he was supposed to play in it.

When the day went on without even the faintest trace of what he had thought to fear the day before, his conviction that it all had just been nerves grew. So when evening turned around again it was him who proposed a little stroll in the growing dusk, to shake of the last vestiges of those haunting thoughts. He told Pegasus that he wanted to see for himself whether or not Mrs. Nosaka had made good on her threat to replace the glass pane. Originally he wanted to ask Miho to accompany him, but his friend was kept busy by her mother, who required all her attention that evening. So when Pegasus decided to accompany him he was glad that he didn't have to be alone with his thoughts, and also about the exercises. He really needed to do more sports than he did, and this little walk would probably clear his head. It was exactly what he needed.

The two of the walked slowly through the woods. Pegasus was again silent, lost in his own thoughts, which while unusual for him, was becoming a far too common sight during his stay here.

Yugi cleared his throat and shot Pegasus a nervous glance. "Well, maybe, maybe we were a little bit hasty in our imaginings yesterday. When we ah, expected trouble. People do have to behave themselves after all…swallow their feelings and all that…" He broke off and looked at Pegasus, hoping both to distract him from his troubled mind and to put his own nerves finally at ease. If Pegasus, who knew the people in question better than anyone, apart from Mai who wasn't here, agreed with him then maybe he could finally lay these worries to rest.

Pegasus just nodded absentmindedly. "Perhaps." He could have sounded more convinced, and after a minute or two he shook his head. "At least civilised people do."

Yugi looked at him confusedly. "Sorry?"

Pegasus breathed out a long sigh. "People who are used to power, to standing outside of society's rules, or think themselves above them…they sometimes don't feel like they are obligated to play by those rules anymore."

Yugi wasn't really sure what to say, or even about whom exactly Pegasus was thinking now, so when they emerged on the grassy knoll he was relieved. Even more when he spotted the window. The face was still there more lifelike than ever. He laughed slightly. "Miho's mother changed her mind." Somehow he was glad that the ghost wasn't gone. Joey would heavily disagree, but he did think that this story had charm in his own way. Even if he would never want to sleep in this room himself.

Pegasus barely spared the window a glance. "Her husband must have thrown the glazier out." He spoke quite indifferently. "He is the type to be proud of another family's ghost, and he wouldn't risk it getting lost after he payed in cash for it." He grew silent after that, his gaze wandering off from the house towards the grass beneath his feet. Still it didn't seem as if he could see it. "Has it ever struck you that this whole being civilised, acting like a sensible adult thing, is dangerous?"

Yugi's head snapped back towards Pegasus and he couldn't help but stare. "Dangerous?" What…what exactly was Pegasus getting at with this shocking remark? Why would that be dangerous.

Pegasus just nodded. "Yes. There are no safety valves, nothing to let off steam. Just masks hiding more and more…"

He turned abruptly and began to descend the path they had come from. Yugi had to run to catch up with him. "I'm – I'm not sure I understand what you mean." But even as Yugi said that, he had the dark feeling that his grandparents would have probably agreed with Pegasus. He could see his grandfather saying something similar, and that was maybe what worried him the most. "Being reasonable…"

Pegasus laughed. It was short and disconcerting. "Reasonable? I have met precious few people who could be called that." Then he turned towards Yugi and smiled at him. "You think I'm getting mad now, don't you? But there are people who can tell you when a storm is coming. They can feel it beforehand in the air. And other people can feel trouble. I've always had a talent for the latter, maybe because I actively enjoy watching trouble. There is trouble coming now, Yugi-boy, big trouble. It may come at any minute. It may…" He stopped abruptly, clutching Yugi's arm.

And as if he had summoned it with this gesture or his words, in that very moment of silent the sounds of two shots rang out, followed by a cry.

A woman's cry.

"My god." Pegasus threw himself around. "That's it!" And before Yugi had time to react Pegasus raced down the path. Yugi followed shortly after him and in a minute they came out on the lawn close by the hedge of the Privy Garden. At the same time Arkana appeared, coming round the opposite corner of the house, together with Mr. Nosaka. They all halted, facing each other left and right of the entrance to the Privy Garden.

Mr. Nosaka was the first to speak. "It…it came from in there." With a shaking hand he pointed into the entrance of the garden.

Pegasus nodded. "We must see." He led the way into the enclosure, but as he rounded the last bend of the holly hedge he stopped dead in his tracks. Yugi peered into it from his side and a loud cry from Arkana made a fitting background for the scene before them.

Three people were in the privy Garden. Two of the lay on the grass near the stone seat, a man and a woman. The third, Cecelia, was standing quite close to them by the holly hedge, gazing at them with horror stricken eyes and holding something in her right hand.

"Cecelia!" Pegasus voice rang out, as he carefully; almost hesitatingly took a step towards her. "What…what's that you've got in your hand?" He sounded almost fearful, as if he knew exactly what it was and just couldn't believe it.

She looked down; eyes still wide, with a kind of wonder and unbelievable indifference. "It's…it's a pistol." It sounded almost like she was just throwing out a guess. And then, after what seemed like an eternity but really was only a few seconds she continued. "I…picked it up."

Yugi left the two of them gracefully to themselves and walked over to where Mr. Nosaka and Arkana were kneeling on the turf next to the two on the ground. "A doctor…" The latter was murmuring as if in delirium, his eyes unfocused. "We need a doctor." But even Yugi could see that it was too late for a doctor. Bandit Keith, who had complained about sand diviners talking about his past and not his future, and Catherine Arkana to whom a gypsy had returned a shilling rather than tell her future, lay there in the last great stillness.

It was Arkana, who finally completed a brief examination. The strong nerves of the man who had to keep a clear head even through dangerous stage tricks showed; his eyes behind the mask were misty. He was himself again, after that first loud cry of agony. The tremble in his voice was barely audible. In a gentle gesture he laid his wife down again. "She was shot from behind. The bullet passed right through her." His voice was calm, but still Yugi couldn't help but wonder how long that would last. Then he turned towards Bandit Keith. Here the wound was in the breast and the bullet lodged into the body. With a frown Pegasus passed over towards them. "You shouldn't have done that. The police will want to see it exactly as it was."

Arkana laughed, dark and hollow. "The police." With a sudden jerking motion he stood up, his eyes aligned with a dark flame as he looked at the woman still standing at the holly hedge. He made a step into her direction, anger visible in his every movement, but Pegasus moved at the same time, right into his way. For a moment a silent duel seemed to happen between the two friends.

Pegasus shook his head. "No," he spoke imploringly. "Arkana, I know it looks like it…but you are wrong."

Arkana looked at his friend, and shook his head. When he spoke, his voice was harsh. "Then why does she have that in her hand?" It wasn't quite a shout but his voice did echo about the Garden.

Cecelia was the only one who dared to speak afterwards, in that same lifeless tone as before. "I picked it up."

Mr. Nosaka turned his head from one person to the other, then he raised from his position. "The police. We must send for them at once. Arkana, you will telephone, yes? Someone…someone should probably stay here in the meantime."

Knowing that he could do nothing else to help anyone here, Yugi offered to do so. His host accepted that with an audible sigh of relief.

"Good, then I'll go and break the news to my wife and daughter…"

After everybody left, Yugi stayed in the garden looking down on the two bodies. He had never really like Bandit Keith, but he didn't deserve such an end. And Catherine…again, he barely knew her but she was really innocent in the mess that had led to that moment.

Cecelia…she would probably be blamed for this, and even thinking about it made his stomach turn. That…she may have done it but he couldn't believe that it was planned...or that she deserved death as a punishment. If so, didn't Arkana bear part of the blame too? There had been something between them, and he didn't exactly come up smelling like roses from the whole thing…and his innocent wife had paid the price.

With deep pity he looked down on her. There was half a smile still on her face, small and wistful. A delicate ear was visible behind her ruffled golden hair, with a spot of blood on the lobe of it. Probably an ear-ring that got torn away in the fall. Yugi couldn't help but feel that he was playing detective when the thought came to him, but still he looked about. Yes there was a small pearl drop in her other ear…Poor poor girl…His eyes were burning when he looked up again.

Yugi had been nervous when the library doors swung open. This was where the inspector had begun to question all the guests, and coming in late he had had enough time to build up nerve about how this questioning would go. But then he saw the inspector and all nervousness just disappeared.

"Tristan!" He had never been so glad to see an old friend as in that moment. Of course, Tristan had joined the police force after high school, something Joey had teased him immensely for, and Yugi knew he had been doing well, but he still hadn't expect him to show up here. His friend looked up, and smiled. "Yugi. I was wondering when you would turn up." He was gesturing towards an empty chair in front of him. Pegasus and Mr. Nosaka were already seated.

"As I understand it, you" – Tristan gestured towards Pegasus and Yugi – "had been for a walk. You were returning to the house by a path that winds round the left side of what is called the Privy Garden. Is that correct?"

Yugi nodded. "Yes, that's true."

Tristan continued: "And then you heard two shots and a woman's scream?"

Again Yugi nodded.

"And you ran as fast as you could, emerged from the woods and made your way to the entrance of the Privy Garden…" Tristan turned through his notes. "If anybody had left the garden, it could only be through this one entrance. It's not possible to get through the holly bushes, and if anybody had run out and turned to the right they would have encountered Mr. Nosaka and Arkana, on the left they would have met you two." He gestured at Pegasus and Yugi. "Again, is that right?"

Pegasus let out a slow breath. "Yes, that is so." His face was very white.

Tristan shot him a sharp look, and shrugged. "Well, that seems to settle it. Mr. and Mrs. Nosaka and their daughter were sitting on the lawn, Arkana was in the billiard room which opens on to that lawn. Ten minutes past six Miss Drage left the house, spoke a word with those sitting on the lawn and went round the corner towards the Privy Garden. Two minutes later the shots were heard. Arkana rushed out of the house, and together with Mr. Nosaka he ran to the Privy Garden. At the same time, you and Yugi arrived from the other direction. Miss Drage was in the Privy Garden, holding a pistol from which two shots had been fired." He signed. "Well, we can assume that she possibly shot the lady first from behind as she was sitting on the bench. Then Bandit Keith sprang up and went for her only to get shot in the chest. I understand ah.." He looked around uncomfortably. "That there had been a, ah, previous attachment between her and Arkana…" He got interrupted even as his sentence trailed of.

"That's a lie. Pegasus was not looking at Tristan directly; his voice was hoarse and defiant. His fingers clawed themselves into the arms rests of his chair. Tristan shot him a look, before he shook his head. There was a trace of pity in his eyes.

Yugi looked up curiously. "What is her own story?"

Tristan shrugged. "She says she went into the Privy Garden to be quiet for a minute. Just before she rounded the last hedge, she heard the shots. Then she came around the corner, saw the pistol lying at her feet and picked it up. No one passed her and she saw no one there but the two victims." Tristan's pause spoke volumes. "That's at least what she claims. And she insisted on making the statement even as I cautioned her against it."

Pegasus looked up. His face was still deadly white, but his eyes gleamed with a burning conviction. "If she said that, she was speaking the truth. I know her."

Tristan looked at him, opened his mouth, rethought his sentence and in the end nodded placatingly. "Yes, well, we will have plenty of time to get into all that. At the moment." He sighed. "At the moment I've got my duty to do."

He really sounded sorry, but Pegasus didn't seem to hear him. His hand tore deeper into the armrest and he shook his head. "Damn it, there must be something… You!" Abruptly he tore around and fixated Yugi with a determined stare. "Yugi-boy, you are so good at puzzles, are you not? Can't you figure something out?"

Caught off guard as he was, Yugi couldn't help but feel a little bit flattered that Pegasus would think to appeal to him, out of anyone present. Maybe the business man remembered what he and Yugi had talked about, and hoped that he would be sympathetic. And he was, he really was, he just didn't see how he could help. As Tristan had made clear, there weren't really any options apart from Cecelia having committed the murder. He was about to offer a sincerely regretful reply, when the butler of the Nosaka's entered, carrying a silver salver with a card on it, which he took to his master with an apologetic cough. Mr. Nosaka was still sitting in his chair, sunken into himself, without taking part in the proceedings.

"I told the gentleman you would probably not be able to see him." The butler's voice was a muster of polite discretion. "But he insisted that he had an urgent appointment."

Mr. Nosaka took the card and read it. "Mr. Atem Sennen." He frowned. "I remember he was to see me about a picture. Yes, we did agree about an appointment but as things are…"

Yugi's throat suddenly felt dry. He coughed, but even while he tried to speak one thought sprang into his mind. Of course. Of course Yami was here. It seemed to be the most natural thing in the world, as if he had just been waiting for the strange man to walk through the door any minute now. Was that what Yami had meant, when he had hoped they would meet again? Another murder, another tragedy? But still, even while Yugi's heart was beating confusingly fast, making him wonder why exactly he was suddenly so excited by the mere mention of a name, he still realised one thing. This could be the help Pegasus had wanted. He hadn't forgotten how Yami had solved the old suicide at New Year, how he had arranged the puzzle till everything seemed clear. This may be exactly what was needed.

"Maybe." His voice was soft, unsure, but he finally managed to speak and interrupted Mr. Nosaka in the middle of his sentence. "Maybe you should invite him in." As everybody turned in confusion towards him, Yugi tried to smile and continued on, while nodding at Pegasus. "I… I'm not sure how I can help, but Ya…Sennen is a friend of mine." The words came so easy over his lips he barely had time to wonder. "Or an acquaintance really. And he…he is quite remarkable in that regard."

Tristan looked at him curiously. "Is he an amateur detective or what?" A slight disdain in his voice when he mentioned the words amateur couldn't be hidden, and Yugi smiled.

"No, no, I don't think so. But he … I don't know how to describe it, but he can help you see and remember things clearer than they were. I did tell you about last New Year, didn't I?" He looked at his old friend imploringly, and Tristan nodded.

"Oh, that was him. The one who scared Joey so much." An excited and curious smile appeared at his lips, and he turned towards Mr. Nosaka, who had followed the exchange very confusedly. "Ok, invite him in. Maybe he can be of help. And if not, it's not like we can lose anything with it." At Mr. Nosaka's nod the butler disappeared, to usher his tall slim guest into their room mere moments later.

"Mr. Nosaka." With a gentle smile Yami shook the man's hand. "I am very sorry to intrude upon you at such a time. I wouldn't have insisted if I knew. We will leave our picture chat for another day." Then he spotted Yugi who had arisen to greet him, and his face lit up. "Ah, Yugi. I told you we would meet again. Still as fond of puzzles as ever?" A mischievous glint lit up his red eyes as he said the last words, and Yugi couldn't help but laugh.

"You could say that, yes. And we just have one right here. I and my friend Pegasus here" – at this he turned his head slightly back ward to point out the man in question – "would like your option on it."

Slowly Yami sat down. The red-shaded lamp next to him threw a broad band of coloured light over the checked pattern of his overcoat. His face, being left in the dark, looked like it was partially covered by a mask, just like the one Arkana wore. His eyes remained on Yugi, while he recounted the main points of the tragedy. Then he waited, with hold breath, as if Yami was an oracle just about to reveal the future.

The strange man held his gaze for a while, lost in thought, before he shook his head. "A sad story." His deep baritone was soft as velvet, gliding across the room like a protective blanket. "A very sad and shocking tragedy." He frowned. "But the lack of motive is intriguing, isn't it?" He had spoken lightly, and Mr. Nosaka stared at him as if he had grown two heads.

"Lack of motive? I don't think you understood what Mr. Muto just said. Cecelia Drage was heard threatening Arkana, and she was bitterly jealous of his wife. Jealousy is a motive!"

Yami just laughed, slow and deep. "Oh no, I agree with you here. Jealousy or demonic possession, it's all the same. But you misunderstand me." The last word was spoken with extra emphasis. "I was not speaking about the murder of Catherine Arkana but about that of Bandit Keith."

Pegasus breathed in sharply, and his eyes sparkled. "Of course!" He clapped his hands together. "That's the flaw. If Cecelia had ever thought about shooting Catherine, which she didn't, she would have gotten her alone somewhere. No we are on the wrong track." He laughed with relief, before his face turned completive. "But what could another solution be…since there were only three people in the garden… I don't think Bandit Keith could have first shot Catherine and then himself? He always seemed kinda unstable, took some things strangely seriously. Maybe he flung the pistol away from him?" He looked hopefully over to Tristan, who shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but that won't wash. If he had fired the pistol close to his body, his clothes would have been signed."

Pegasus was not yet ready to give up. "And if he held it at arm's length?"

Tristan just shook his head. "Why should he? And again, there is no motive."

Pegasus shrugged. "He might have gone off his head. Like I said, a little bit unstable." But he didn't really sound convinced either. He fell again silently, till he looked up at Yami again.

"Well, Mr. Sennen?"

It was a clear challenge, but Yami just shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I'm no magician. I'm not even a criminologist, but I can tell you one thing. I believe in the value of impressions. If you have a crisis, there is always a moment that stands out from the rest, a picture that will stay with you forever. Yugi."

Surprised at being addressed Yugi turned his head towards Yami, who smiled at him encouragingly.

"Yugi is probably the most unprejudiced observer of those present. Would you cast your mind back, and tell us what made the strongest impression on you? The moment you heard the shots? The first time you saw the dead bodies? Seeing the pistol in Miss Drage's hand? What was your piece of the puzzle?"

Yugi fixed his eyes on Yami's face, unsure if what he had in mind, the one thing he really remembered, actually was the right answer. This was a test, he could feel it, Yami was testing him for…something, and he had no idea what. But Yami's gentle smile was encouraging, a sign of faith, of not being worried in the least that Yugi could fail, and so Yugi slowly started to speak.

"No…it's not any of those. It's rather small and silly to be honest, but when I was standing by the bodies afterwards, I was looking down on Catherine and..." He breathed slowly out. "And I will always remember how she laid there on her side, with her hair ruffled. There was even a little spot of blood on her ear."

In the same moment the last words left his mouth he saw how Yami's lips twitched a bit upwards, a triumphant sparkle entered his eyes, and suddenly Yugi felt that what he had said was terrific and significant. Maybe the pride in Yami's eyes helped, the slight tilt of his head in congratulation that let Yugi's cheeks burn a little.

Mr. Nosaka nodded. "Blood on her ear…I think I remember that…"

Hastily Yugi nodded, determined to keep his face from burning any more. "The earring must have torn off as she fell." But his theory from before didn't sound so convincing anymore.

Pegasus frowned. "She was lying on her left side, if I remember correctly. I suppose it was that earring?"

But Yugi shook his head. "No." He repeated himself slowly, starting to see what the problem was. "It was her right ear."

Next to him Tristan coughed. "I have found this in the grass." On the palm of his outstretched hand lay a loop of gold wire.

Pegasus snapped his tongue. "No, no, a mere fall couldn't have torn this thing to pieces. It looks more it has been shot away by a bullet."

Yugi's head snapped upwards. "So it was." He was suddenly a hundred percent sure that this was what happened…but then… "It was a bullet. Nothing else could have happened."

Tristan looked at him. "Yes, but there were only two shots. A shot can't have grazed her ear and host her in the back as well. And if one shot carried away the earring and the second shot killed her, it couldn't have killed Bandit Keith. Unless…" He interrupted himself, his eyes widening. "Unless he was standing very close to her, facing her…unless she…"

"Unless she was in his arms, that's what you were trying to say, weren't you?" Yami spoke with a queer little smile. "Why shouldn't it have been that way?" He was the picture of relaxed calmness, the only thing missing was a cup of tea for him to sip. The rest of the room was also silent, but it was more due to confusion than to relaxedness.

Silently they stared at each other. The idea was strange; it had never occurred to them. Catherine and Bandit Keith? Really?

Mr. Nosaka gave voice to that feeling. "But they hardly knew each other?" It sounded so incredulous, that Yugi was inclined to agree. But there was something else, pieces of memory, of different conversations slowly coming together.

"I…I'm not sure. Maybe they knew each other better than we thought. Miho mentioned that Keith was getting on her nerves last winter in Egypt, he himself talked about the tournament and the fortune tellers there…and you" – he turned towards Pegasus – "told me that the Arkanas got married in Cairo last winter. Maybe they got to know each other well, back then…" He trailed of, trying to fight of the redness that was trying to cover his face at his words.

Yami smiled at him amusedly, which got him an annoying look. He was the one who had brought up this whole line of thought, couldn't he spell it out himself?

Mr. Nosaka still shook his head. "They weren't spending a lot of time together…" But he didn't sound as doubting as before, and Pegasus nodded slowly.

"Yes. They really avoided each other. Almost unnaturally so, if I may say that."

They all looked back towards Yami, who still sat there smiling, as if he had nothing to do with the startling conclusions they arrived at so unexpectedly. With a small nod of his head, he rose to his feet. "Do you see what Yugi's little impression has done to us?" He turned towards Mr. Nosaka. "Perhaps now it's your turn to surprise us."

With an aura of confusion Miho's father looked up towards his guest. "Ah, what? I beg your pardon?"

Yami just smiled. "You were very thoughtful when I entered this room. I think I would like very much to know what occupied your thoughts. Never mind if it hasn't anything to do with the tragedy. Never mind if it might seem…superstitious." Again there was a certain emphasis on his last word and Mr. Nosaka startled ever so slightly. "Tell us." This was not the challenge that he had issued towards Yugi, an invitation to play. This was a clear order, telling Mr. Nosaka exactly what he wanted from him.

Mr. Nosaka looked at his guest confusedly, before he shrugged. "It's not like it's a secret, but you are right, it has nothing to do with this terrible business, and I'm sure you'll laugh at me afterwards. I was wishing my wife had left well enough alone and not replaced that pane of glass in the haunted window." He laughed. "It's superstitious, of course, but I really felt as if her doing this had brought a curse upon us all. An angry ghost, if you so wish." He looked up to find himself the centre of the astonished stares of the two men opposite him.

Yugi opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again before he could form a sentence. "But…But she hasn't replaced it."

Mr. Nosaka looked at him, and shook his head. "Oh yes, she did. The two men came first thing in the morning."

Next to Yugi Pegasus sat up suddenly, his wide. "I think I understand. My God…" He looked at Mr. Nosaka. "The room is panelled, right, not papered?"

Their poor host was growing more and more confused every minute, while Yami just overlooked the proceedings with a small smile in his face. "Ah, yes, that is so, but I don't understand…"

He didn't get to finish his sentence, as Pegasus was already bolting out of the room. After a second the others followed him, straight to the Arkanas bedroom, the supposedly haunted room. For a room inhabited by a ghost it was quite charming, panelled in cream with two windows facing south towards the lawn. Pegasus' hands glided over the panels on the western wall. "If I'm right there must be a spring somewhere…ha!" His mutterings changed to a triumphant shout. A click could be heard and with this a small section of the panelling rolled back. Behind it the rim panes of the haunted window were clearly visible. Not even the slightest hint of a stain was visible, one pane was clearly new. But Pegasus spotted something, and bent to pick it up. When he rose again, he held a fragment of an ostrich feather in his hands. He looked at it and then at Yami, who just nodded.

In the next moment Yami turned around, and went to the hat cupboard in the bedroom. There were several hats in there, all belonging to Catherine. With a sweeping gesture he took out one with a large brim and curling feathers, an elaborate Ascot hat, and presented it to his audience. The he began to speak, in a gentle, reflective voice. "Let us suppose there is a man, who is by nature inclined to be intensely jealous, a man who had, by his own admission, stayed here in bygone years and who possibly knows the secret of the spring in the panelling. He is a stage magician after all, these tricks are part of his work and out of curiosity and to amuse himself, and he opens it one day, and looks out of the window into the Privy Garden. There he finds, secure as they believe themselves from being overlooked, his wife with another man. There is no way he can doubt what kind of relationship is between them. Of course he gets mad, mad with jealousy and rage. But what shall he do? An idea comes to him. He goes to the cupboard and puts on the hat with the brim and feathers. It is growing dusk, and he remembers the story of the stain quite well, given that it had just been retold the day before. Anyone looking up towards the window will only see the Watching Cavalier. Secured in that way he watches his wife and her lover, and when they are finally clasped in each other's arms, he shoots. He is a good shot, a wonderful shot, since shooting was part of his stage repertoire. When they fall he shoots a second time. This is the shot that carries away the earring. Afterwards he throws the pistol out of the window, rushes down and out through the billiard room." He looked down at the hat in his hand, and smiled a melancholy smile. "It's so simple, if you think about it."

Pegasus shook his head, an angry look in his eyes. "But he let her be accused. He just stood by and let her be accused for his murder! Why?"

Yami turned towards him. "I can only guess about that of course, I'm not a mind reader and I never met Arkana, but…I think he actually was in love with Cecelia Drage once. Madly, like his love always was, so that even meeting her again years later stirred up a jealousy long buried. I think Cecelia once fancied herself in love with him too, and so she did join him on his stage show – interesting that his wife was once his assistant too, isn't it? – and then afterwards she figured out that she was actually in love with the better man. A terrible strike for a tender ego…"

Pegasus looked at him as if he couldn't quite understand the words. "The better man…?" His voice sounded dazed. "You mean?"

Yami smiled faintly. "Yes, I mean you." A minute passed during which nothing happened, before he gestured vaguely towards the door. "You know, if I were you…there is some good news to share…"

Pegasus shook his head as if to wake up, and nodded fast. "Oh yes, yes I will go now." With this he turned around, and left the room, followed by a still very confused looking Mr. Nosaka, and Tristan, who just shook his head.

Yami watched them go with a smile.

When Yugi stepped forward, Yami turned towards him with a smile. "You know." Yugi's voice was flat. "Your talk about the crime right now…it almost sounded like you had witnessed it."

Yami blinked at him innocently, while his smile grew. "Really? Thank you, that's quite a compliment for my storytelling skills."

Yugi crossed his arms, even if he couldn't fight a smile on his own lips. "So that all really was just a theory, just guesswork?" Because if that was true he would eat his whole deck.

Yami's smile was unchanged, with an irritating serenity that would have driven a sphinx mad. "If you say so. By the way, did you have time to look up the harlequinade in the meantime?"

The abrupt change of topic threw Yugi of balance for a second, and it took a few seconds before he nodded. "Ah yes…but to be honest it was very confusing." He wasn't really sure what a comic theatrical genre, especially one that lived from improvisation, had to do with anything. Yes, love played a big theme, and there was something familiar about one figure, but with the plot always changing around a very reduced structure he wasn't really sure what he was supposed to see. "But I think I've seen the costume of the harlequin somewhere before…" He looked challenging to Yami, remembering the strange light effects that seemed to surround his arrival, and his strange friend shrugged, again with that infernal smile.

"I see. Well, I do suppose it has become a bit muddled after all this time." His eyes sparkled mischievously, as he bowed. "I have to go now, but I'm sure it won't be for long."

Yugi just snorted. "Didn't you say that last time? It's been months!" He didn't know where that outburst came from; surprised, he clasped his hand on his mouth.

Yami just looked at him, before he bowed his head. "I know… But I'm not sure you really want a sooner meeting, given the circumstances…" Before Yugi could ask what he meant, he smiled again. "But I know it won't be long this time." Yugi opened his mouth to answer, but there wasn't anybody still there to talk to. Just empty air and dust dancing where there had stood a man.


	3. The Voice in the Dark

**The Voice in the Dark**

Rain was hitting the window of the game shop. Spring had finally brought its storms with it, and Yugi paused on his way back downstairs to shake his head for a moment. He was kind of glad that he had declined Téa's invitation to visit her for a couple days. Or, more accurately, her mother's invitation to check in on her daughter. He was still a bit irritated about the letter he received, and if he was honest with himself there was lot of worry mixed in with this irritation too. Carefully he climbed down the stairs while his mind wandered back towards the letter. It had arrived yesterday, to his surprise since Téa's mother, a society lady of the first order, never really bothered with her daughter's friends. She never really bothered with anything that didn't concern herself, her looks or another husband. She was currently single, but from what Yugi had heard from Téa she had lost three husbands by divorce, and one by death. Tea called getting married her mother's hobby.

It would have made slightly more sense for that letter to be addressed to Yugi's grandfather, since he had known Téa's mothers since her childhood. If there was any trouble she couldn't solve herself, which practically never happened since she had a talent of getting what she wanted, she would have turned to him, and not to Yugi. But the letter had been for him, and so Yugi had ripped it open to read. It did not clear his confusion at all.

If this letter was to believed, and if Yugi understood it correctly, which wasn't so easy since it was littered with side track about one of her ex-husbands – a strange temperamental fellow who hadn't been Téa's father that was another husband, but which would have made this situation so much more understandable… Either way, if Yugi understood it correctly, Téa had started to see ghosts. Or hear them. Her mother had written in a quite cheerful tone that she was worried about Téa going off her head, since there couldn't even be a question about their building being haunted. Abbot's Mede was the kind of early Victorian chateau which was simply too ugly to be haunted. Either way, she had wanted Yugi to come visit for a couple days, since she herself couldn't just interrupt her holiday for such mad thoughts, and check in on her. Of course, if Téa really was going off her head she would come home, that was without question.

Normally Yugi would have run off to help Téa at once, but first he had phoned her, and she had assured him that everything was alright, thank you, her mother was just being overdramatic, nothing to worry about. It had sounded a bit overdone, but since she insisted that he shouldn't come over because of nothing, he had declined. What should he do; he couldn't force her.

The warmth of the living room was a welcome reprieve and the bright lights chased his darker thoughts away. His grandfather had a couple of guests over, students from some kind of duel academy whom he had met while Yugi had been visiting Greenways House, and the laughter in the room made him smile. However he wasn't really inclined to join the game they were playing.

It was rare for him to decline any game, which the shocked look of his grandfather drove home, but really, after what happened at Greenways House he really didn't feel ok with fooling around with an Ouija board. He had enough of spirits for a while; he didn't need to attract their attention now. No, he had his own work to distract himself, even if it was nothing more than a drawing at this point.

Proudly he looked down on what was the beginning of his very own game design. It needed a lot of work still, and he wasn't entirely clear on the rules just yet, but he was still proud of it. And it would distract him from any lingering worries. With a smile he started to work, while the voices of the gaming kids washed over him.

"Was that an N or M?"

"No Jaden, I'm sure it can't b unless the spirit is a Russian…"

"Chazz you are shoving! I saw you!"

Yugi worked, the voices nothing more than a pleasant drowning in the background till a name jerked his attention rudely back towards the present.

"Y-A-M-I is that right?"

"Yes, that was one rap for yes! We got a ghost!" Jaden, the brown haired boy grinned excitedly. "Yami, have you a message for someone here? Yes. Oh my god he said yes! For me? For Syrus?"

The boy with the turquoise coloured hair next to him shook his head. "Oh please no…" His small protest was swept away by his friend with an encouraging grin, but thankfully the "ghost" still rapped twice for no. Yugi watched all this with held breath, a fast beating heart, and the growing conviction that he knew exactly for whom the message was. But…that couldn't possibly happen, right? Such things weren't possible…

"For Chazz? No? But there isn't anyone else…" Jaden looked around with a frown, but when his eyes settled on Yugi, his face cleared up. "Oh! Is it for Yugi perhaps? Yes! Yugi, there is a message for you!" He sounded so excited that Yugi didn't have it in him to disappoint him, even though his knees were shaking when he got up to join the boys.

"What does it say?" He was wide awake now, but even though confusion and fear ruled his thoughts, there was something else that was slowly breaking its path, excitement and a trace of anticipation that let his eyes shine.

The table rocked, and Jaden began to count. "ABBOTS …is this an Abbot's ghost?"

Yugi shook his head, with an ever growing certainty that he knew exactly what the board was going to spell. "No…No there's more. Go on."

Jaden had already started to count again, since the table didn't make any move to stop for them. " MEDE…Is that even a word?...No that seems to be all." Seeing the disappointed look on Yugi's face he tried one more time. "Hey, can you tell us some more? Please?" But even Jaden's smile couldn't compel the table to move again. The brown haired boy sighed. "Sorry, that seems to be all. But that's one strange message."

Yugi still looked at the table. "No…I don't think it's strange." With that he excused himself and left the room in search of a telephone. Even while he walked his face turned into a grimace. That was going to be fun; Téa had already made clear that she thought that the whole thing whatever it was, was blown up by her mother. Convincing her that he was coming up after all, nearly in time for dinner, and that this was just a spontaneous idea would be so easy. But still a flushed smile appeared on his face.

Yami…the mysterious Yami. As strange and frightening it had been, somehow it seemed fitting that he would use an Ouija board to contact Yugi. It was fitting but at the same time there was a sense of urgency about it. Wherever Yami appeared things happened, or things had already happened. And that meant whatever was going on at Abbot's Mede was a lot more urgent than Téa wanted him to know. He should be frightened, and he was, but there was also a strange sense of pride in his thoughts. Yami had contacted him, even though they barely knew each other. Yami thought there was something he could or should do there, something to hopefully help Téa, and it was hard not to be flattered by it. Also, maybe he would meet the strange man again…With a resolute shake of his head, Yugi picked up the receiver.

In the end Téa was easier to convince than Yugi had feared. She had been a bit confused about his change of mind, but accepted his growing worry after her mother's words as a believable excuse. An excuse that wasn't entirely as false as Yugi had to admit when he finally sat down in the train that would take him to his childhood best friend. Téa had sounded strangely relieved when she had agreed that he should come up, and that she would tell him exactly what had worried her mother. More relieved than she probably would have liked to admit. Something as wrong, and he could have kicked himself for not having realised it sooner.

Also, an Ouija board was admittedly a very extreme way of contacting someone. If that had actually been Yami, and not a momentary confusion on his part – maybe his subconscious but he hadn't even touched the board, there was no way he could have influenced it, not to such precision – then whatever was going on was extremely urgent and dangerous. By the time the train conductor was excitedly telling him about an accident that had taken place on exactly this part of the line a few years ago Yugi's thoughts and feelings were such a tangled mess of dread, guilt of not reacting sooner, and a vague unease and fear for his friend that he couldn't help but take this ominous story as a bad omen. So it was quite a relief when he looked up after the narrative was finished to see a well-known face smiling at him over the conductor's shoulder.

"Yami!" Excited he jumped to his feet, while at the same time doing his best to sound annoyed. The conductor, returning to his duty, excused himself. Yugi barely noticed him going. "You know we have a perfectly functioning phone in the shop. A phone call really is enough to get my attention. Usually."

Yami's eyes widened in mock innocence and for a moment Yugi was sure that he would deny all knowledge about what Yugi referred to. What he would do then, he couldn't really say. But in the last second something strange flitted over Yami's face, something that on anyone else's face would have looked like guilt, and his smile turned towards excusing rather than teasing. "I'll keep that in mind next time," Yami spoke lightly as he sat down next to Yugi. "But it seemed to be the easiest way at that time."

Yugi honestly tried not think about what kind of person…what kind of being would think contacting somebody by Ouija board was "the easiest way" and tried to concentrate on the present. He had not forgotten Yami's strange disappearance at Greenways, and he wouldn't ignore this call now, but at the moment he was simply glad to see the man again. Something about him had captivated his interest, and if he was surrounded by mysteries…well, Yugi had never been able to refuse a puzzle, especially one so confusing and difficult. But more than that he felt safe again. Yami's smile, his easy manner; everything made him feel like his fears were unfounded, like whatever was waiting for him in Abbot's Mede could be conquered without harm coming to Téa or him. With Yami here nothing could happen, and of that he was sure.

With an eager smile he turned towards his friend. "So you are also going to Abbot's Mede?" Téa probably wouldn't be happy about yet another guest, especially if this was a family matter. But Yami could be of help, and Yugi would honestly feel safer with him…and also he wasn't ready to lose sight of the confounding man again so soon.

But Yami cocked his head. "Well, not directly. But I have business in the area, of a rather important nature I'm afraid."

Yugi looked at him, and shook his head. "And you are sending me then in your place?"

Yami looked at him, and tilted his head slightly. "Maybe you could be more helpful there than I could be." It was strange admittance, and Yugi honestly didn't know how to deal with that. More helpful…yes he knew Téa, and he wanted to help her but…

"You are the one who is solving everything, not me. I'm just standing by and looking on."

Yami's head turned towards him, and it seemed like he wanted to say something, but before he could, Yugi changed the topic.

"Is that what you mean by circumstance of a meeting? Before you left so suddenly at Greenways?"

Yami gave him a long look and shrugged his shoulders. "I left no more suddenly than usual. I come and go, you know? I come and go." There was something in his words that seemed to carry another meaning, which awakened an echo of remembrance in Yugi's mind. Yami's voice, soft and deep like velvet, glided down Yugi's spine, while reminding him all too well of the metal that hid underneath it that could trapping harshness that was equally part of the man. A shiver accompanied this thought, but it was not a disagreeable sensation, quite the contrary.

Hastily Yugi shook his head trying to hide the flush that threatened to spread across his face. So caught up was he in his thoughts that he barely heard Yami speaking again. "And about the circumstance…maybe you will realise more about them when this is over." The tone of the voice changed, Yami sounded thoughtful but the way he regarded Yugi was strange. Waiting, almost like he wasn't sure how he would react.

Yugi's own eyes turned sharp. "This…you mean my 'mission.'" He spoke the word almost jokingly but the worry which had haunted him now returned tenfold. What had Yami so worried? "What do you know about that?" What did he know that Yugi didn't?

Yami leaned back, a small smile appearing on his lips and then suddenly the heavy atmosphere that had filled the air disappeared like a cloud of smoke. "Dreadfully little, I'm afraid. I barely even know the persons involved." He smiled at Yugi, the request clear. For a moment Yugi thought to refuse, to challenge the fact that he was sure Yami knew exactly who the persons involved were, and what was going on. But then he changed his mind. Yami would just deny it, not in so many words, but if Yugi accused him now they wouldn't get out of this game before the train arrived in the station. Now, he would have to file this away for later. This was a different game, one that possibly involved Téa's safety, and as curious as Yugi was about Yami, his friend's life came first. Maybe he was overdramatic, but in his two meetings with Yami, murder and suicide had played such a big role that he didn't want to risk it. Not now. Yami aimed for something with this request, and Yugi was sure playing along would be helpful. For now.

So he bowed his head shortly. "I know more about Téa, of course; she is my friend. You met her back at New Year, remember?" Yami nodded and Yugi continued. "But it was her mother who asked for help, Lady Gardner." He grinned when he mentioned the name. "I know it sounds strange, very simple, but it's an old title, if my grandfather is right. A very old one. One of the few that can descend in the female line. She is a Baroness in her own right, and the history is quite romantic." His eyes sparkled amused. "If my grandfather is to believed, again."

Yami settled down more comfortably, and regarded Yugi with a smile and an interested look. "Sounds like it's quite the story. Would you mind telling me?" It was such a simple request, but like every time when Yami looked at him in that way, Yugi suddenly felt himself tongue-tied. He wasn't usually good at telling stories, which made him a bit self-conscious, but there was something about Yami's eyes, now warmly glowing like a pair of twin fires, promising safety and encouragement, that made him feel like everything he said was important to the man. Like he would listen to his every word, like Yugi had his full attention. And that made him want to try, more than anything.

He took a deep breath, and tried to remember everything he could from his grandfather's old scandal stories. Sometimes the old man was the worst gossiper Yugi knew. "She is an astonishing woman. Must be sixty now, not that you would believe it when you looked at her." There was a lot of make-up, cosmetics and other trick involved, but Yugi had never known Téa's mother other than stunningly beautiful. "My grandfather knew her when she and her sister, Beatrice, were girls. They grew up together. Beatrice was the elder one, I think. Beatrice and Barbara. He called them the Barron girls, that was their nickname back then. So many years ago…" He drifted off, trying to find his way back towards something important, something interesting. But Yami's eyes made it hard for his mind to focus.

"There were several lives between them and the title." This he remembered clearly, it had sounded like something from one of Miho's beloved novels. "The old Lord Gardner was a first cousin once removed…" Ah, Yugi hoped at least, or was it a second cousin? Didn't matter. "Her whole life has been a rather romantic affair. There were three unexpected deaths, two of the old Lord's brothers and a nephew." He looked up at Yami and managed a small smile. "I know what this sounds like, but none of these deaths were murders or suspicious." His grandfather would have mentioned that surely, and he wouldn't have let his grandson spend time in a murderess' house unaccompanied, at least not while he was still a child. But the old man had trusted Lady Gardner at least in that regard, so Yugi was pretty sure about this statement.

"Then there was a shipwreck, the _Uralia,_ I think? She went down somewhere near New Zealand or Australia. Both sisters were on board and the older one, Beatrice sadly drowned. Barbara was one of the few survivors. And six months later, the old lord died and she succeeded to the title and came into a considerable fortune."

He paused and dropped his voice a bit. "I, ah, honestly, I don't think she is a nice person." His grandfather had put it best, when he had said that she had lived for one thing only: herself. "I'm just quoting my grandfather here, but he said, she is, ah" – he took a deep breath – "beautiful, unscrupulous, completely callous, interested solely in herself." It was quite the list he had to admit.

Yami's lips twitched upwards. "Sounds like a charming person."

Yugi laughed. "Oh yes. She has had four husbands, and according to Téa she is currently working on getting number five." His smile dropped. "And Téa…Téa is her daughter. And my best friend." She was almost more than that, but how could he put that in words? His best friend, for a great part of his childhood his only friend, the first one to protect him against bullies, his first crush, first love for many years, and now as close to him as a sister… No, Téa was special but there wasn't a word to describe it. She had stood by him, given him courage, believed in him, showed him what strength and self-confidence could look like. He had admired her so greatly… No, how could he ever have thought about not helping her, even if she insisted on it being nothing. He need to see for himself at least that she was ok. "I need to see if I can do something about that…her mother claims she is hearing voices…" He shook his head, the worry he had driven aside while talking about the mother now back again. "I wish you would come with me."

The words were out before he fully realised what he said, sounding more wistful than he would have liked. But this was what he wanted most at the moment, someone there with him, someone who could help him make sure that nothing would happen to Téa. He wasn't sure he was able to do it on his own and… And even if he knew it could be a bad idea, he trusted Yami.

"Would it not be possible?" He turned his eyes towards Yami pleadingly. Téa deserved – needed – the best help he could provide. And that was Yami.

But Yami shook his head "I'm afraid not." He truly sounded sorry. Then he started, and turned his head thoughtfully. "Unless…Abbot's Mede is in Wiltshire, is it not?"

Yugi nodded.

A smile lit up Yami's face. "Ah. I thought as much. As it happens I shall be staying not far from Abbot's Mede at a small, old-fashioned and charming inn." He grinned and his eyes sparkled mischievously, as looked at Yugi. "It's called 'Bells and Motley.'" Something seemed to amuse him greatly about the name, and Yugi could feel and answering grin on his own face, as he nodded.

"Of course." It seemed impossible that Yami would stay anywhere else, and as the two now looked at each other it was like they were sharing a joke only the two of them would understand. Even if Yugi had barely more than a feeling to go on, it still felt so clear and inevitable.

Yami nodded. "I'll be there for a week or ten days, depending on my business. Possibly longer. Maybe you could come and look me up one day. I would be delighted."

Yugi slowly breathed out. "I…I will." And somehow this assurance that Yami would be nearby was strangely comforting.

It was less comforting when the first words Téea spoke after opening the door were, "If you start laughing at me, I'm throwing you right out again."

Yugi hastily nodded, noting to himself that, if Téa was in such a mood, things were both more serious and more unbelievable than he feared. "I wouldn't dream about that!" Because he wasn't Joey or Tristan, and he definitely didn't have a death wish. Also he would never laugh about a friend's worries. Téa knew that, which was probably the reason she invited him into the large comfortable hall of Abbot's Mede with barely a frown.

"Good, because if I don't talk to somebody sane soon I think I'm actually going to strangle someone."

Yugi carefully sat down, wondering what or who exactly had Téea worked up that way. Her mother was out of the country, so that was out of the question. Carefully he looked over his old friend, who let herself fall into the couch across from him with a thud. She looked irritated, yes, angry, but not really like something was wrong with her. Téa had inherited almost nothing from her mother; instead she took entirely like her father, who had come from a line of hard riding country squires.

Téa was the sanest, most down to earth person Yugi knew. But he remembered, far in the back of his mind, having heard once that the Barrons as a family had all been inclined towards mental instability. His grandfather had used this once to try and explain her mother as a rather erratic character. Téa might have looked like her father but perhaps she could have inherited some mental illness from her mother's side of the family. But that was useless speculation, and Yugi refused to even think about it.

Instead he offered Téa a comforting smile. "Give me a sign when it comes to that, so I can jump for cover. Who is the unfortunate victim?"

Téa grimaced, but her shoulders sagged down and she relaxed a bit into the couch as she spoke. "Kokurano. He is a medium or some cooked up garbage like that. Casson, a neighbour dragged him up somewhere. She is just a silly woman who can run a craze to death, but this 'medium' is something else."

Yugi tried to stifle a laugh. The picture of Téa consulting a medium or sitting quietly in the dark during a séance waiting to talk to some ghost was amusing. But he was one to talk; he had followed an Ouija board message to come here. So he coughed a bit, to hide his laughter. "Well, maybe we can solve this on our own, so you can send him packing with a smile? What exactly happened? You mother wasn't clear, but she wrote something about things starting two months ago."

Téa sighed, and nodded. "About that," she admitted, sounding a bit resigned. "Sometimes it's a whisper, sometimes I think I hear a clear voice, but what it's said was always pretty much the same."

Yugi leaned forward. "And what was it?"

Téa looked him straight in the eye. " _Give back what you have stolen. Give back what is not yours_. Every time I turned on the light almost immediately, but the room was empty, and I swear there was no one there." She let out a bitter laugh. "I got so nervous in the end, I even asked Miss Chono, mother's maid, to sleep on the sofa in my room, and I can barely stand that woman."

Yugi pulled a sympathetic grimace. He barely knew Lady Gardner's maid, but from their few meetings he could understand Téa's dislike of her. The woman had scared the hell out of him as a child, being all friendly and sugary in front of adults and a nightmare with clearly sadistic tendencies as soon as they turned their head. He still lived in fear off those few hours she had locked him inside a closet because he and Téa had been deemed too loud while playing. "And...Did she hear the ghost too?"

Téa shot him a dark look. "No…I heard it loud and clear. Obviously she was not enough to frighten it off but…" She bit her lip and fear, looking so strange on her face, returned to her eyes. "But she didn't hear it. Only I could."

Yugi slowly breathed in, a stab of fear and concern for his friend shot through him. Téa was almost never afraid, and seeing her so down was worrying. It was nearly worse than her quite unsettling story. "Maybe the sound was too soft? She could have slept through it?" Did Miss Chono sleep deeply? He never thought that this was something he would have to wonder about.

Téa hesitated shortly, before she nodded. "It was almost a whisper. I suppose she wouldn't have heard it if she was sound asleep. But she wanted me to see a doctor." Her lips turned into a bitter smile. "A psychiatrist, obviously, even if she didn't quite say that. She really sounded and looked so concerned, just worried about me and my health."

Oh yes, Yugi could picture the scene quite clearly, Miss Chono's eyes wide opened in mock concern, all the while gleaming with hidden delight, a smile on her face that should speak of care but rather talked about a dark joy in seeing her mistress' daughter, the one child she never really could frighten, finally break down.

Téa's bitter laugh interrupted his thoughts. "But after last night even she believes it. I honestly think it scared her too."

Yugi looked up in surprise. "What happened last night?" Was that the reason why Téa had changed her mind about his visit? She had been dead set on not needing any help before his second call after the Ouija board.

Téa hesitated, and then she leaned forward towards him. Her voice was barely above a whisper. "What I'm telling you now I've told nobody else yet. Yesterday had been a long day, and when I went to bed I was dead tired. I slept very heavily and of course I had a nightmare, something about having fallen over some iron railings and one of the spikes slowly entering into my throat. When I woke up I found that it was true…there was some sharp point pressing into the side of my neck and at the same time a voice was muttering softly: _You have stolen what is mine. This is death."_

Yugi felt his breath stop, fear was crawling up his spine, and as Téa continued there was only one thought in his mind. No…no that couldn't happen!

"I screamed, and clutched into the air but there was nothing." She sounded almost desperate as she said that. "Miss Chono heard my scream from the room next door where she was sleeping. She came rushing in, and she later said that she felt something brushing past her in the darkness, but she also says that whatever it was, it wasn't anything human."

With every word Téa had grown more shaken and upset. Yugi stared at her for a moment, horrified, unable to say anything. His eyes got caught on a sticking plaster on the left side of her throat, something he had missed before. Tea caught his eyes, and nodded. "Yes. It was not imagination, as you can see." Her hand came to rest on the plaster, and a sad, tired smile danced around her lips.

Yugi had to take a deep breath before he could speak again. "Do… Is there anyone who could have something against you? Who wants to harm you?" It sounded ridiculous, even as he said it. Who could have wished to harm Téa? True, she always spoke her mind, and with standing up for others she had upset some people, but nothing had ever been so serious as to lead to a deadly attack. Also, none of the people truly angry at her would have been able to get into her house unnoticed and without leaving a trace. They were not that subtle.

Téa just shook her head. " I thought about that do…but I can't imagine anyone. Not like this, anyhow."

Yugi nodded and tried for another angle. Because that last thought had some merit, whoever was behind this had access to the house somehow. "And were there any visitors during the last two months?" He was feeling more and more guilty as the talk went on. He should have been there, should have known that something was wrong with his friend. There shouldn't have been any need for a letter from her mother or an Ouija board to tell him about it.

Téa turned her head upwards to recall her memory. "Let me think." She started to count on her fingers. "Miho has been here for most of the time, apart from that party at her parents' house that went so wrong." She grinned up at Yugi, for a moment looking more like her old self, and not so frightened anymore. "Sounds like I missed out on some terrible drama. I'm almost sad I couldn't go."

Yugi snorted. Oh yes, Téa definitely would have enjoyed what happened at Greenways. "Then there is Johnny Steps." She frowned. "He is a cousin, twice or third removed, I have no idea. And a major annoyance." With an eye roll she continued. "Guy thinks he is the best dancer ever, and can't admit that others might be good too. And he hates to lose. He has been around a great deal."

Yugi nodded. He knew what would be the logical next step, the way to get the next puzzle piece to solve this picture, but he honestly dreaded it even as he thought about it. "I ah…guess I should talk with Miss Chono now?" He sounded almost pleadingly, and Téa shot him a sympathetic look, but didn't disagree. He sighed. "She has been around a long time, right?" He was stalling now, but really, he didn't want to talk to the maid. Even though he knew the answer, Miss Chono had been around for as long as he knew Téa.

"Centuries," Téa's tone was less than respectful. "I think she had even been Mother's and Aunt Beatrice's maid when they were girls. That's the reason mother kept her on, I suppose, even though she has got a French maid for herself. Miss Chono only does sewing and puttering any little odd job that comes around."

She took him upstairs, and with a last sympathetic glance, and a warning that not treating Yugi politely would have consequences, left him alone with his childhood nightmare. Miss Chono didn't really look all that scary, he had to admit. Yes, there were deep wrinkles on her face, the ones around her mean, glimmering dark eyes mostly caused by anger; her skin was pale and almost grey; and there were deep shadows under her eyes which altogether gave her the appearance of a classical fairy tale witch, but it wasn't that bad. She was just an old woman, respectable, orderly and a bit tired.

Yugi was still scared about her.

After he finally stuttered out some questions under her disapproving eyes, she pressed her thin lips together. "No, of course not. There was never any talk about the house being haunted. Her clear blue eyes widened in played fright. "I know I can be honest, since you are such a good friend of Miss Téea, and we've known each other for so long. I would never tell this to a stranger, but honestly, I thought it was all in her imagination till last night. Young girls can sometimes be so hysterical, can't they? But there was something, brushing by me in the dark." Her eyes were wide, but he could see the glee in them, when she recounted her tale. "And of course there is the wound on her neck. The poor lamb didn't do that to herself after all?" A small smile spread on her face, and Yugi was left with the clear impression that this was exactly what she was going for. That Téa did this to herself. And, if he didn't know Téa that well, he could have almost seen a reason behind that. People who seemed so sane and well balanced sometimes did the strangest things. But not Téa, of that he was sure. No matter what Miss Chono liked to say or think.

The maid caught his disapproving glance and her eyes narrowed. "Well either way, it's not like she has that much reason to complain. The wound will heal up shortly, not like this scar of mine." Sharply she pointed to a mark on her forehead. "That's been forty years old, and I still have the mark."

"That was when the _Uralia_ went down." Téa, having looked in to check on them, leaned herself on the doorframe. "Miss Chono was hit on the head by a spar, wasn't it so?"

Miss Chono nodded. "Oh yes, it was terrible." Yugi saw the burning anger slowly taking over her eyes, and, with the sudden knowledge that Miss Chono blamed her employers for putting her onto the sinking ship in the first place and thus also for her scar, hastily changed the topic back. The old maid could be really vain, and she had never forgiven a disparaging comment on her looks.

"So, ah, what do you think about this whole thing, Miss Chono? What do you believe is the meaning of this attack?"

The old woman turned towards him and fixed him with a cold clear look that was at odds with her widened eyes, looking as if she was terribly frightened. "Something very wicked must have been done in this house, I'm sure. And until that is cleared there will be no peace." There it was again, that faint glow of satisfaction in her eyes.

When Yugi went downstairs again he was both relieved to get out of Miss Chono's presence, and unsettled by the conviction that the old dragon enjoyed what was happening towards her charge. Not that this was surprising, given her character, but it really made him just feel worse. Of course, she also thought that this was a haunting and after his dealings with ghosts in window panes and that Ouija board message he should have probably been more open towards this, but honestly, he wasn't convinced. The phenomena had only taken place in the last two months and there had been two visitors during that time. Granted, he would never believe Miho capable of something like this, but he didn't know this Johnny Steps, and maybe…maybe the whole thing was just a very bad practical joke. He kind of hoped it was, but that was a very faint hope. No, this was more sinister than a simple joke. Téa had been attacked, and who knew what would have happened if she hadn't woke up in time.

In the hall Téa was looking through the post which had just arrived when she looked up with a sudden exclamation. "Oh god, Mother is too absurd." With a shake of her head she handed Yugi, who was sitting down next to her, the letter. It really was typical for Lady Gardner.

 _My darling Téa,_

 _I'm so glad you have your nice little friend Yugi there. He is really clever, I think, and his grandfather knows all the big-wig spook people. He knows everyone after all. You must have them all down and investing things thoroughly. I'm sure it will be a great fun and you will have a marvellous time, and I wish I could be there, but I have been so terribly ill the last few days. Really, those hotels are so careless about the food they give. The doctor thinks it's some kind of food poisoning, and I've been feeling so bad._

 _It was so sweet of you to send chocolates, darling, but wasn't that a bit silly? I mean, I'm in Cannes, they have such wonderful confectionery out here. You really don't need to worry about that._

 _Bye-bye darling, and a lovely time hunting down those family ghosts. Bimbo says my tennis is coming on marvellously. Oceans of love._

 _Yours, Barbara._

Bimbo was husband number five in the making.

With a sigh Téa leaned back. "Mother always wants me to call her Barbara." She grinned up at Yugi. "I think hearing me call her mother makes her feel old."

Yugi couldn't help but grin in return. Oh yes, that was exactly what Téa's mother probably would think, even though it was terribly impolite of him to think that way. But there was something else about the letter, something that gave him a bad feeling, the way when he looked at a face-down card on his opponent's side, and knew that this would go bad for him soon… Something was very wrong.

"Did you send her those chocolates?"

Téa looked over to him in surprise, and shook her head "No, I didn't. Strange, now that you say it… It must have been someone else. She always had lots of friends and admirers."

Yes, that was a possible explanation but…honestly, Lady Gardner had received a gift of chocolates and now she was suffering from a very severe attack of food poisoning? If those two puzzle pieces didn't fit together he didn't know anymore. Granted, Lady Gardner herself hadn't connected the two things, and neither had her daughter. Maybe he was being too paranoid, but he was sure that there was a connection.

But when they entered the morning room a girl with blond hair was already waiting for them, and all thoughts about possible poisoning by chocolate had to wait for a while. "Yugi!" Miho rose with a smile. "We just can't get rid of ghosts, can't we?"

Yugi answered with a smile, glad too see another friend, but before he could say anything there was a loud screeching sound from outside.

Téa rolled her eyes. "And here comes Johnny. He always drives like he has a death wish."

A tall dark young man, his hair up in dreadlocks and a big smile on his face, tumbled out of the car. "Hi Miho, hello Téa. Johnny Steps is here and he brought some reinforcements!" He turned towards the two people entering the hall after him. Yugi just recognised the woman, a Miss Casson that had been Téa's neighbour for ages. The man dressed up in a Dracula cape, decorated with so many different religious symbols that Yugi was sure some of them were of conflicting belief systems, and sporting long shaggy hair, was entirely new to him.

Miss Casson smiled at her hostess. "You must forgive me, Téa, my dear." She spoke in a slow drawling way and her smile broadened. "Mr. Steps told us it would be quite alright. It was really his idea that I should bring down Kokurano."

Yugi looked up curiously. Kokurano was the one Téa had threatened to strangle before, and her sour smile made clear that she hadn't really changed her mind about that in the meantime. It really wasn't good to judge people just at first glance but given the fact that the man looked like a caricature of a third class movie fortune teller he was getting an idea where her annoyance came from. Any more tingling symbols and the poor guy was in danger of falling over.

Miss Casson however didn't seem to notice her neighbours less than enthusiastic response, since she spread her hands in a gesture of triumph to point at her companion. "This is Kokurano!" Yugi would have never guessed. "He is simply the most wonderful medium that ever existed."

Kokurano offered no modest protest; instead he bowed and kissed Téa's hand in a very elaborate fashion. It took a few seconds longer than was polite or comfortable, and when it finally ended Yugi could see how Téa's face turned into a disgusted grimace as she turned from her guests and she tried inconspicuously to wipe off her hand. She threw an angry look at Johnny, who seemed quite unconscious of the offence he had caused.

When Téa turned back towards her guest her smile was back in place, through it was clearly fake. "Lunch should be ready now, I think."

Miss Casson nodded. "That's good. We can hold the séance immediately afterwards. You don't happen to have some fruit for Kokurano, don't you? He never eats a solid meal before a séance."

True to her words the medium ate only two bananas and replied to all remarks addressed at his way with a low carrying voice, leaving the impression that they all should just stop bothering him with their insignificant problems of the lower realms. Yugi had no idea how he managed to do that by barely speaking more than two words at a time, but he managed. It probably helped that most of those words were reserved to point out his own talent. When they all finally rose from the table, Kokurano's head snapped up and he sniffed through the air. "There is something very wrong in this house. I can feel it, thanks to my powers!"

Miss Casson beamed. "Isn't he just wonderful!"

Yugi, Téa and Miho shared a long look, before Tea answered. "Oh, undoubtedly." She couldn't have sounded faker if she tried.

The séance was held in the library. Miho was throwing a longing glance towards the books as she sat down, and Yugi could hear her muttering about how this was a waste of this this room. Yugi could understand her frustrations, and Téa looked anything but happy about the proceedings. Only the fact that both Miss Casson and Johnny took an obvious joy from this show seemed to convince her to keep this charade going.

Miss Casson clearly was the most enthusiastic about this all, flitting around the library and carrying out the arrangements with a certainty which spoke volumes about her knowledge about these matters. Chairs were sat around in a circle, curtains were drawn, and when the room fell into gloomy shadows the medium announced that he was ready to begin.

With a searching look in his eyes, Kokurano glanced around the room and shook his head heavily. "Six people. That is bad. We must be an uneven number. The powers work best with a circle of seven."

Yugi could see how Téa rolled her eyes at that, but Johnny was already on his feet to fetch a servant. When he returned with Miss Chono, Yugi had his final proof that this would be a less than enjoyable experience. Being trapped in the dark with the maid was the last thing he wanted, especially as she ended up next to him. Kokurano sat himself down directly between Téa and Miho. And then Kokurano insisted that everybody had to hold hands, which really made everything _perfect_. Yugi caught himself wishing that maybe Yami could use this séance to make some sort of announcement, maybe that would let this go over faster. Or at least spook everyone enough that the handholding got broken up.

But it seemed that he would have no such luck. The following period of silence wasn't broken by Yami's baritone, but by the usual coughs and fidgeting of people awkwardly sitting around in a circle. Then a series of raps was heard, and then Kokurano gave over control of his voice to his powers, of whom he spoke as if they had their own mind. Yugi let go of any hope about this being more than a plumb charade that hadn't been killed already. He could feel himself sinking down more and more with every word that was spoken, dying from second-hand embarrassment.

"The powers that greet you, young ladies. And gentlemen. There is someone here, someone who is anxious to speak. Very anxious. They need to give a message to the young lady. They go, and leave the spirit to say what she has to say." There was pause, and then a new voice could be heard, the low soft voice of a woman.

Yugi looked up in surprise. Kokurano was better at changing his voice than he would have believed.

"Téa? Is she here?"

Before Téa could speak Johnny took it bravely upon himself to answer in her place. "Yes, she is. Who is speaking?"

The voice answered almost immediately. "I'm Beatrice." Yugi started, barely believing that Kokurano could have known that name, even as Johnny was already continuing his questioning. "Beatrice? Who is that?"

But he didn't get an answer because to everybody's annoyance that was where the powers that be took over to relay a very important message. "Life here on the other side is very bright, great and beautiful. Live well, and follow our messenger's advice to pass over afterwards too." Then there was blissful silence, before the woman's voice appeared again. "This is Beatrice."

Johnny sighed, as he repeated his question. "Beatrice who?"

"Beatrice Barron."

Now Yugi couldn't hold himself back any longer. He leaned forward trying to catch a glance of something in the dark, either Kokurano, or somebody else who could speak. "The one who went down with the _Uralia?"_ It was a bit blunter than he would normally be, but the whole affair was getting to his nerves, with this medium helping it along quite nicely.

"Oh yes, the _Uralia_ …I remember it quite well. I have a message for this house. _Give back what is not yours_."

Téa took a deep breath. "And what is that supposed to be? If you really are my aunt of course."

Miss Casson snorted. "Of course she is! Don't be so suspicious! You will anger the spirits and they will go away!"

Yugi suddenly remembered something, a story his grandfather once told about the Barron sisters and himself, a little accident that had happened. If that ghost was real, she would know about that and if not…well what were the odds of this clearly fake medium knowing anything about it?

"I…you knew my grandfather I suppose. Do you also remember Mr. Bottacetti? He never forgot that story."

Almost immediately there was a ripple of laughter. "Oh of course, that poor old Boatsupsetty. How could I forget that? It was so much fun."

Yugi's chin dropped down. He honestly hadn't expected her to know that. Forty years ago, before most people in this room, including the medium, had even been born, his grandparents and the Barron girls had found themselves at the same seaside resort. For his grandparents it had been their honeymoon, so of course Yugi had heard all the stories about it. A young Italian acquaintance of theirs had gone out with a boat to impress Beatrice, the prettier one of the sisters, who had wished for that. He had capsized, and while no harm had come to him, Beatrice had found that very funny and never called him anything else than Boatsupsetty ever again, even to his face. Really…how was it possible that anyone in this room would know about that?

Kokurano let out a dramatic groan and he stirred.

Miss Casson looked up attentively. "He is coming out of it!" Her whisper could barely be overheard. "That is all we will learn from him today, I'm afraid." The daylight flooding back into the room was a relief, especially for the two people inside it who had been badly scared by what happened. Yugi just had to look at Téa's face, white as ashes, to know that this had disturbed her greatly. She barely even glared at Kokurano when he insisted on seeing her off with another kiss on the back of her hand, and while Miho immediately started to wipe off her hand on her clothes the moment Kokurano had let go of her hand in the circle, Téa had barely blinked.

When they had gotten rid of Miss Casson and her medium, and Miho had volunteered to keep Johnny Steps occupied, mostly by listening to his tales about how good his dancing was and how many trophies he already won, Yugi and Téa sat down for a private talk.

Yugi took a deep breath. "Ok, I know that sounds like a line from a police novel but… Téa, if anything would happen to you and your mother, who would get the titles and the estates?"

Téa thought for a moment. "Johnny I suppose. His mother was Mother's first cousin."

Yugi nodded slowly. Of course. "And he has been here a lot hasn't he? Ah… Sorry for asking, but um, is he you know, does he like you?"

Téa's lips twitched. "He asked me to marry him three weeks ago. I said no." She stifled a small laugh. " Because, well, you met him, but even if he was different…" A strange look, wistful and almost a bit guilty, swept over her face and she sat up abruptly. "You know, I should have told you this sooner, but it was so much fun to keep this secret…and you are still the first to know, but… I'm engaged. Have been for more than a month now." Before Yugi had time to react, she continued. "You are my best friend, you should have known sooner, I'm sorry…but we wanted to keep this to ourselves for a while."

Yugi blinked and then smiled. "Of course I understand! And I'm so happy for you. Who is it?"

Téa laughed. "Her name is Mana, and she is a pharmacist's apprentice. You are going to adore her I know. She is the most fun, optimistic person I know." A wistful smile appeared on her face. "She has a congress now, or she would be here. I can't wait for you two to meet."

Before Yugi could answer a footman entered with a telegram. Téa tore it open, and her happy smile disappeared into a frown. "Oh nice, mother is arriving tomorrow. Bother. I honestly wish she would stay away." She looked up, and smiled slightly. "I know it's a terrible thing to say, but she is not really the most helpful person I can think off." Given the look in her eyes, Yugi could fathom a good guess on who she rather had with her. But still, with Lady Gardner's arrival there was nothing left to do for him now, but to say his goodbyes and return home. At least he knew that Téa had some reason to be happy in the future…and he was now very curious to meet her fiancée. He had never seen Téa glow so much than during those few seconds she spoke about her. But even so as he left the house behind he couldn't shake of the feeling of dread that accompanied him.

Even back home this restless feeling didn't ease up. He felt unsatisfied with himself, sure he should have done more, something else, afraid for Téa and scared that he had left this problem unfinished. Yes, her mother was back and so this was no longer his responsibility, but the worry for his friend grew worse every day, and he was sure that he hadn't heard the last about the happenings at Abbot's Mede.

But when his fears came true in the worst possible way it still found him completely unaware. One morning, when he helped his grandfather open the game shop, he picked up the newspaper and was greeted by the headline: "Baroness dies in her bath." A fast, desperate search through this and any other paper he could get his hands on yielded the following facts: Lady Gardner had been found dead in her bath and that death was due to drowning. It was assumed that she had lost consciousness and her head had slipped below the water. It sounded logical, but there was no way Yugi could believe that. He barely took enough time to bid his grandfather a hasty goodbye and grab a few clothes and items, before he took off to the train station.

But surprisingly it wasn't really Abbot's Mede he turned to first. The small inn was truly no more than fifteen miles away from the mansion, and despite it's rather unusual name of "Bells and Motley" it was a quite charming, a quiet, orderly and clean place. Yugi took the news that Mr. Atem Sennen was still there with great relief, especially since he had at first been told that the one he was searching for was not there, only to remember that Yami was a nickname, not his friend's given name. It took barely another minute to find himself face to face with the strange man, and as Yami rose to greet him with a smile, Yugi felt a bit of the fear and dread that had haunted him lift off. It was ok; it was still fixable. Yami could fix this, he was sure.

Without waiting for Yami say anything he clasped his hand. "Please, you must help me. I… I don't know what you thought I could do there, and it may already be too late. Téa might be the next one and she doesn't deserve this. She is just planning to marry, that can't…" He broke off in a fit and looked pleadingly up to Yami whose surprised look changed to a gentle smile.

"Of course, I'll help you. I could never refuse that. But you may need to tell me exactly what this is about."

As he guided him to the sofa to sit down next to him, Yugi shot him a reproachful look. "You know exactly what this is about, stop denying that. But yes, if you insist I will tell you."

Yami leaned back on the sofa, and propped up his elbow on the arm rest, supporting his face with two fingers to listen attentively as Yugi began to talk. At first the words fell out hasty and confusing, but as usual when Yami listened, his attention and focus completely on Yugi as if everything he said made sense. It became easier and easier to talk, and Yugi could feel himself calm down the longer he spoke.

When he finished he looked up at Yami expectantly. "So you see, there must be an explanation, but I can't see it. I really don't know why you thought I could be of help." That was the worst thing about that, the thought that he probably could have helped Téa, and had failed, that he probably did everything wrong. "You could have dealt with that better."

But Yami just shook his head. "No, I couldn't. I couldn't have done this better." His voice was gentler than Yugi had ever heard it, and when Yami leaned forward to look him straight in the eye Yugi could see nothing but earnest sincerity in them. "You know these people, not I, but you can solve this."

Yugi nodded slowly. "I've known Téa for all my life…and thanks to Grandfather's stories her mother too." He managed a small smile and Yami nodded encouragingly. He looked so sympathetic that Yugi went on, slowly drifting on into memories of half-forgotten stories.

"You know, that boating accident Bottacetti-Boatsupsetty, it's so silly, but I always liked those stories, those memories, hearing what foolish things my grandfather got up to once. Grandmother loves telling those. She insisted that Grandfather remembered that story so well, because the maid the Barron girls had with them, Alice, she was an old flame of his, from before their marriage. One of the girls nearly caught them together. Grandmother always teased him about the fact that he was so stuck up on herself during the honeymoon that that poor girl never spoke a word to him ever again."

He shook his head and the smile slowly appeared from his face. The he looked again at Yami. "So you can't help me?" There was something wistful about the way he spoke, but also something resigned, something calm. "On every other occasion…"

Yami interrupted him with a shake off his head. "Every other occasion being successful was so entirely because of your own efforts." Yami's voice was quite grave. "It will be the same now, I'm sure. In your place, I would go to Abbot's Mede now."

Yugi nodded. "Of course, I was planning on this anyway." He rose, and stopped to smile down at Yami, who remained seated. "Thank you. I… I'm feeling a bit calmer now."

Yami bowed his head. "I'm glad to be of help." He sounded so sincere Yugi suddenly had trouble breathing again.

Hastily he turned his head to hide the sudden blush threatening to rise up. "Ah, either way, I can't…persuade you to come with me?" He had to try at least one more time, but he was not really surprised when Yami shook his head.

"No. No my work here is done." He spoke with a sudden conviction that left no room for argument. "I'm leaving almost immediately now." Yugi said his goodbyes, and left, never noticing how Yami looked after him with an unreadable expression on his face.

When Yugi arrived at Abbot's Mede it was relief to find Téa as well as circumstances would permit. She sat in the morning room, dressed in black, but with dry eyes, surrounded by various papers strewn around on the table. She looked up, and the relief in her eyes when she saw him nearly broke his heart.

"Thank goddess you are here. Miho and Johnny have just left, and Mana is on her way, but she will still need a few days to get here… It was no accident." She looked him in the eye and repeated with great conviction, "It was no accident. Mother was pushed under the water and held there, I'm sure. She was murdered. And whoever did that is probably after me too." The direct way in which she spoke was shocking, but not really surprising, if Yugi was honest. Téa had always faced her troubles head first and unafraid. That was something he had always admired and envied her for.

With her head she pointed towards the document in front of her. "That is why I've been making my will." She shrugged. "A lot of the property and the money doesn't go with the land and title, and I also have my father's money. Everything I can I'm leaving to Mana. She will take good care of it, and I honestly don't trust Johnny. He always tried to get whatever he could." She looked up at him again. "Will you sign as a witness?"

Yugi nodded. "Yes of course, but… I'm not sure but don't you need to sign this in the presence of two witnesses and then they sign at the same time?" That was how his grandparents had done it at last, and thinking about the implications of a last will had unsettled him so much that he wasn't likely to forget that anytime soon.

Téa just shrugged. "I don't think it matters. Miss Chono saw me sign it, and she then signed herself. I was going to ring for the butler, but you arrived at just the right time." Feeling dreadful at the thought of signing his best friend's will, but knowing there wasn't really anything to argue once Téa made up her mind, Yugi picked up the fountain pen to sign, only to stop in the middle of the motion. His eyes stuck on a name, just above the place where he would sign his own, and with it the memories dug up by his recent conversation with Yami started to play again.

Alice Chono…

There was something, something he couldn't quite grasp, something significant, something mixed up with Yami, something he had just told him… A picture appeared in his mind, one taken during his grandparents' honeymoon, the one standing on their mantel piece now. They were all in there: his grandparents, so young and glowing with happiness; the Barron girls; and the maid, the old flame of his grandfather… Alice Chono that had been her name, a small wisp of a girl on that picture. People changed, possibly even in character but not like that, and most importantly… the Alice Chono on this picture had brown eyes.

He felt his world shake. His hands grasped blindly for a chair, for anything to hold onto. Téa's voice came to him, as if from a great distance, suddenly worried and anxious. "Yugi? Yugi, are you ok? What's wrong?"

He took a breath; the world came back into focus again, and he took her hand. In his mind he could almost see Yami's smile, picture him nodding at him encouragingly, knowing that he was right now. "Téa…I think…I know what happened." He looked at his friend. "It's horrible, I know, but the woman upstairs calling herself Alice Chono isn't Miss Chono. The real Alice Chono drowned on the _Uralia."_

Téa was looking at him like he was mad, but he could see a slow understanding dawning in her eyes. "It was a woman's voice…but who is she?"

Yugi's mind was now going faster, the puzzle pieces all aligning to form a perfect picture, and he was cursing himself for not seeing it sooner, it was so clear, it had practically stared him in the eyes from the first second on. "I'm right, I know I am. She…she is your mother's sister, Beatrice Barron. The one who proclaimed to speak from the grave. She told us she was struck on the head by a spar, remember? Maybe that blow destroyed her memory, and when your Mother realised that…"

Téa interrupted him. "She saw a chance of pinching the title for herself." She sounded bitter. "Yes, that is exactly what she would do. It's dreadful to say that of her now, after her death, but she was like that."

Yugi nodded, barely hearing her, his mind still caught up in putting the puzzle together. "Beatrice was the elder sister. With your Uncle's death she would have inherited everything and your mother nothing. So your mother claimed the wounded girl as her maid, not her sister. And when she recovered, Beatrice believed what was told her, that she was Alice Chono. But then, lately her memory returned, but that blow, all those years ago…it caused some mischief on her brain…"

Téa looked at him, horror and understanding in her eyes at the same time. "And so she killed Mother. And she wanted to kill me."

Yugi let out a breath. "Yes, it seems that way. She possibly knew only one thing now: her inheritance had been stolen, and you and your mother were keeping it from her."

Téa shook her head…"But she is so old…" It was more a thought than a sentence, Téa probably didn't even realise she had spoken out loud. Yugi's mind wandered back towards the picture on the mantelpiece, the two Barron girls nearly looking the same, so beautiful, but Beatrice always being the pretty one, and the last picture of Lady Gardner, which had accompanied the news of her death in the paper, a radiant golden-haired creature…and Miss Chono faded old and grey. Just because their two lives had developed differently…

He shook his head and looked up at Téa. "We should go up and see her." He honestly was afraid about this confrontation, unsure about how Miss Chono – he still couldn't think of her any differently – would react, still afraid about the dragon of his childhood, who had now truly proven capable of murder, even though he could understand why she felt driven towards this.

But Tea nodded, her eyes set in determination, and he knew it was the right thing to do.

They found Miss Chono sitting in her little workroom where she usually sewed. She did not look up as they entered, and when Yugi came close, he saw why.

"Heart failure." He heard Téa's voice next to him, as she gently touched the cold, rigid shoulder. "Perhaps that is for the best."

He didn't answer, but as he looked up he had the strange feeling that somebody was passing him by now, even though nobody was in the room with them. It was nothing but a short feeling, fleeting and gone in the next moment, but it felt familiar, and suddenly Yugi's heart felt easier and comforted.


	4. The Man from the Sea

**The Man from the Sea**

With a deep sigh Yugi leaned back and closed his eyes. The fresh breeze was a pleasure and he slowly felt his thoughts untangle. After what had happened at Abbot's Mede he had barely had any moment to think. Business in the shop had picked up, much to his grandfather's pleasure, and while this was of course always good news, it also meant that Yugi's life had become quite stressful. With his own game developing project on the side, something he had admittedly also delved into more to keep himself from thinking too closely about a few things, he had barely had a moment to himself. It had gotten so bad, that one day his grandfather had looked up from the cash register, scrutinized his grandson, and declared that Yugi needed a holiday. Ideally a week ago, but now would also do. Yugi's protest had been half-heartedly at best, and now, on this little island in the Nile, which seemed so far off from anything that it could well be the end of the world, he was alone to relax, and to finally work though his thoughts.

Lightly his fingers traced over the letter he had just read, a small smile on his lips. Téa and Mana had gotten married shortly before he went on his trip and while the wedding had been a blast, and Tea completely right as she usually was about how well Yugi and Mana would get along, it had also left him slightly wistful. Not because he still had harboured any romantic feelings for Téa, that was in the past but… She was his oldest friend, his first love – and seeing her getting married, seeing how both girls had glowed at each other as if there was nothing more important, more beautiful in the world than the other person had raised a few questions concerning his own life. Or rather, the feeling that he was missing something, like a hidden puzzle piece.

Maybe it was the fact that weddings were said to make people sentimental, maybe it was also the memory of the tragedy that had happened shortly before, of Miss Chono, and of a life stolen and wasted, but the bad feelings had never quite left him. It was stupid he knew. He was happy with how his life went. He had his games, his friends, his grandparents; he was working on his own game, trying to fulfil his childhood dream, and yet everything suddenly felt empty and useless.

Frustrated with himself he shook his head, trying to chase away those thoughts. They were useless anyway, just a phase that would pass. It wasn't like that was the first time similar ones had haunted him. Graduation immediately sprung to mind, or rather the time before that; looking towards a future that seemed both predictable and at the same time so strangely frightening. But just as he rose to go down to the small harbour below the hotel, another memory, the one he had tried desperately not to think about, appeared in his mind. Yami's face, the gentle smile with which he had offered him help.

Reflexively Yugi burrowed his face in his hands. Oh yes that, maybe that was the true problem, the thing that had irritated him above all else. It was not hard to admit that he found Yami interesting, that he was fascinated by the mystery the strange man provided. But since his first instinct when the Abbot Mede crisis had turned dangerous had been to run to Yami, Yugi's thoughts hadn't been able to stay away from him. Yami's laughter had rung in his ears more often; he had caught himself thinking sometimes – when he heard something funny, or saw a new game – about what Yami would say about that, or if he would like to play.

But that was just the beginning, Yugi had also caught himself looking over his shoulder, to see if Yami was going to pop up out of the blue, with the best case being Téa's wedding, where he had been kind of disappointed that Yami hadn't just shown up to be his date for the evening. It was worrisome that he had even thought about that, and more than a little embarrassing, but when he had woken up the following night from a very interesting dream with the haunting memory of Yami's eyes and his voice still lingering, he knew that he had a problem.

Not with the idea that he might have had an interest, a crush, feelings, whatever for the strange man, not per se. But it was true that there were multiple signs that this was bad idea. Yami had said himself: he came and went, there was no telling when, or even if he would ever show up again.

And apart from that, whatever Yami was, and the hints he had been dropping, in context of the circumstance of their meetings, something Yami himself had explicitly pointed out, were starting to paint a vague, unsettling picture. It was safe to say that he was probably not human – which really was the only reason Yugi should need to banish the idea right from his mind. Really he just needed to look up any given mythology, Miho or either of his grandparents surely had some starting tips about that, to see that human-not quite human relationships barely ever worked out well. For the human, at least.

No, it was best if Yugi just forgot that, and moved on. But still thinking about just letting this, whatever it was, go made him sad, and when he had looked at Téa and her wife at the wedding, he couldn't help the slightly selfish wish to have something like that for himself. To have Yami look like that at himself. Stupid idea, really.

He straightened his back, and finally continued on his way down towards the harbour. An avenue of bougainvillea lined his way, a vivid mass of scarlet, which he barely even noticed. He was kind of glad when the vibrant flowers lay behind him, and walking down the white street towards the dark blue ocean, slowly lifting his spirits. Maybe it didn't matter what he felt or didn't feel. It would pass, he was sure, and in the meantime he could just go on, live his life, and finally try to enjoy the beautiful landscape surrounding him. This was what he was here for after all.

A mangy, disreputable dog was slowly walking towards the middle of the road before he stopped to stretch himself in the sunlight. A small smile appeared on Yugi's lips as he saw how the dog yawned and prolonged his stretch to the utmost limits of ecstasy, before sitting down and scratching himself with joy. Then the dog rose, shook himself, and began looking around for any other good things life might be inclined to offer. It was funny to watch, and so Yugi stopped and looked at how the dog sniffed at a garbage dump on the side of the road with earnest and excited appreciation before rolling himself on the dump. Clearly for this dog at least the world was a paradise this morning.

After a while the dog tired out, rose to his feet and wandered back to the middle of the road. And then, without a warning, a ramshackle car careered wildly round the corner, caught the dog full square and passed on without a single care.

Yugi immediately ran towards the dog, but even as the animal rose again to his feet, Yugi already knew it was too late. The dog looked at him, for what seemed like eternity, with a vague reproach in his eyes before he collapsed again, this time without any hope of ever raising again. Yugi knelt for a moment by his side, trying to keep the tears from falling before, realising he could do nothing, he rose again. With one last look back and tears still in his eyes, he bowed his head and wandered off. His mood, having just arisen a little again, was now definitely down.

He walked on, past the palm tree and the white houses, without even seeing them; past the black stones, where the river crashed into the land, and where, years before, as had been told to him, a local man – well respected, a pillar of his community and one of the small villages leaders – had been carried out into the sea and drowned. The water was treacherous here, even for one who knew her well, and still Yugi passed rock pools were children and elderly people bathed. But those were safe, not really connected to the dangerous currents.

The road in front of him led on, along a steep climb towards the top of the cliff. Up there the view was breath-taking, something which the owner of a single house had evidently taken advantage of. It was strange to see it stand so alone, far from the community of the others, but admittedly it was quite a lovely sight. It was white, with faded green shutters tightly closed, surrounded by a tangled, wild growing, beautiful garden. From it a public walk between cypress trees led to a plateau at the edge of the cliff where you could look down to the deep blue water below.

It was this spot where Yugi had returned to almost every day of his stay here. Maybe it was the charming house and garden, maybe the majestic look of the cliffs, but it fascinated him. He had never entered the villa, which always seemed empty. The closest he had come to it had been engaging with the man who sometimes worked in the garden. Yugi wasn't sure if he was the gardner, or the owner of the house, who took a special likening for his garden, but while he could appear scary at first, being a very big man, and not really speaking a lot, he was one of the nicest people Yugi had ever met. Rishid, as he was called, always had time for a chat or a smile, and the short talk with him lifted Yugi's spirits. With a smile and a small wave of his hand he took his goodbye and passed on down the cypress walk to the sea.

Sitting there you had the impression of sitting at the edge of nothing, the place where it all would end and where it all began. An impressing, scarily humbling feeling that made his mind turn back towards his earlier thoughts, and the raising question about what he had out of this life, if it was even so much as that poor dog on the streets. With a frustrated groan Yugi burrowed his face in his hands. God, he was being dramatic today. It must be the scenery, this strange in-between of endings and beginnings…

An unexpected sound raised him from his thoughts, the sound of footsteps, so light that they were barely audible along the cypress walk, so that Yugi's first real hint that there was a human being with him and not his own overactive imagination, was the soft voice that suddenly sounded out. "Oh."

It sounded so disappointed that Yugi couldn't help but turn around. A young man stared back at him, both with obvious surprise and a barely notable look of disappointment. Yugi had noticed him before, with his long with hair and his even paler skin, he was bound to stick out, especially at a place that didn't see too many new visitors and guests each day. He was probably around Yugi's age, quite young, but there was something in his eyes, a deep look that seemed older and quietly unsettled Yugi. It almost looked haunted, or irrevocably sad.

Curious as to what would bring someone other than himself to this island in the middle of nowhere, even if was the most beautiful nowhere he could imagine, and strangely worried about the look in the stranger's eye, Yugi rose to greet the man, but the other beat him to it.

The look of disappointment on his face disappeared, masked by a slight smile. "I beg your pardon. I didn't want to disturb you; I was just startled. Normally there is nobody here." His smile was quite disarming, charming even in its reserve.

Yugi smiled back while he nodded. "It's quite lonely here yes." Politely he moved a bit aside on the lone stone bench on the plateau and the other accepted the unspoken invitation with a slight bow of his head as he sat down.

"Oh I don't know." The stranger shook his head with a wry smile. "There always seems to be somebody here." Despite his smile there was a tinge of resentment, barely noticeable in his voice.

Yugi looked at him curiously. He had the impression that the other was a rather friendly person. Why would he insist on being alone? A romantic meeting, perhaps? Or the similar need to think that had driven Yugi to this place? But neither of these felt right. He looked again at his new companion, trying to hide his scrutiny as well as he could. That expression on his face, it seemed familiar, as if Yugi had seen it somewhere else, not too long ago…a look of confused and bewildered resentment…

"You come here often, then?" Yugi spoke more for the sake of saying something than anything else.

The other nodded. "I came up here after dinner last night."

Yugi startled bit. After dinner? But… "I thought the gates were always locked at that point?"

There was moment of silence, then his companion laughed. It wasn't a happy sound. "I climbed over the wall." There was a hint of defiance in his voice, but just a hint. He didn't look angry or challenging at last. Just tired, as if it didn't matter what he would say or do.

If Yugi hadn't been interested already, he would be now. Maybe it was the meeting with Yami, the strange occurrences he had gotten involved in since last New Year, but his mind, always eager for another game, another puzzle to be solved, immediately latched onto the strange elements of this man's story. He couldn't have arrived before the preceding afternoon; he would have been noticed. Thus he had had little time to see the beauty of the villa on the cliff by daylight, and he hadn't really spoken with anybody. And yet after dark he had headed straight for the villa and the cliff. Yugi's head turned automatically back to the villa, lying there serenely, shuttered down and almost lifeless. No, that wasn't where he could find the solution to this mystery. And also, if the stranger had to climb the fence the person he had met there would have to too.

He turned back towards his new friend. "And there actually was somebody else here then?"

The other nodded. "Yes." It sounded like a sigh. "He must have been from the other hotel. Wore quite fancy clothes."

Maybe Yugi realised at this point where this would lead, a faint feeling that got him to keep on asking. His throat was suddenly dry. "Fancy clothes?"

Luckily the other didn't look at him at this moment, and thus didn't see the strange mixture of fear and hopefulness that suddenly appeared in Yugi's eyes. It couldn't be…"Yes. Some kind of harlequin rig." The other spoke carelessly, without realising what his words did to Yugi.

"What?" Yugi was glad he could even manage to get this word out, unable to believe what he heard. Really? Out of all the places in the world?

This time his companion turned to stare at him, finally noticing that something seemed to go on with Yugi. "It was probably for a fancy dress show at the hotels, I suppose?" He sounded unsure, and looked at Yugi as if he wasn't quite certain everything was alright with him.

Yugi barely noticed that. "Oh, yes, yes." He paused, trying to collect his thoughts and to catch the laugh that was building up in his throat. Of course. Of course he was here. Looking back he should have expected that. It would fit Yami after all. _I come and go…_

He shook his head. "Sorry, it's just… I have a certain friend, and your description, it sounded like him." He had to laugh. "He is strange but… It always seems that when he appears things are going to happen, strange revelations coming to light or discoveries being made. He has a talent for those sorts of things, even though he never takes part in it directly. Or at least insists he does not take part." Yugi now looked directly at his companion. "Being the one you met here last night would be exactly the kind of thing he would do."

His companion looked at him thoughtfully, and shook his head. "Could be. He was quite sudden at least. Gave me quite a shock. One minute he wasn't there and in the next he was standing nearly next to me. Almost like he stepped out from the sea beyond the cliffs."

Yugi looked over to the edge of the plateau and the deep drop below it. It was almost depressing that he could imagine the scene almost perfectly and that it sounded completely reasonable to him. Yami had a penchant for this kind of drama.

The other followed his gaze and smiled. "It's nonsense, I know. But that's the feeling he gave off. In reality of course, there isn't enough foothold for a fly." He looked over the edge and his gaze turned cloudy. "A straight clear drop. One step and it would be the end right enough." He spoke to himself; for a moment Yugi seemed to be forgotten.

He shot a long look at the stranger, before he nodded. "An ideal place for murder, in fact." Yugi's voice was far more pleasant that it would be right for such a morbid statement, but he thought he had earned that after everything he had encountered during the last few months.

And it got the others attention alright. He stared at Yugi almost like he didn't quite understand what he said. "Oh yes…yes of course." He spoke vaguely, his thoughts clearly elsewhere.

Picking up a stick the stranger made little dabs at the ground, a frown on his face. Yugi looked at him, growing more and more worried, and finally it dawned at him just where he had seen this look before. The dog, the one that had gotten run over. He had the same look in his eyes. Like life had been pleasant, a good day and then…then the dog had been hit by car and it had ended suddenly. What had hit the stranger?

At this point the other suddenly looked up, startling Yugi out of his thoughts. When he spoke it was still more to himself than Yugi. "You know, sometimes, it's really hard to see what it's all for." Words like this were spoken so often, sometimes in jest, sometimes with a weary exhaustion, that it would be easy to ignore them. But there was something else in the stranger's voice, a hidden desperation and an exhaustion that seemed to go deeper than just a bad day. Something was very wrong and so Yugi didn't say anything, he just sat there and listened, letting the stranger get off his chest what couldn't be kept silent anymore. Yugi was a good listener, kind and compassionate, and after while the stranger probably forgot that he even had a listener.

His name was Ryou Bakura, and his life had been going downward for a while. It seemed ok from the outside: he lived alone, had a stable job, and was withdrawn, with a passion for tabletop games which definitely caught Yugi's interest. But beneath all that lay grief that never really went away. He didn't really talk about it, not directly, but after a while Yugi could piece enough together to get a picture. Ryou had lost his whole family at a young age, his mother and twin sister in a car accident which had left him as the only survivor with a lot of guilt and grief; and a father who got more and more distant each day, lost in his own mourning and probably also subconsciously blaming his son for surviving. When his father also died, something which Ryou only talked about in the barest of words, he had been left completely alone, and withdrawn into himself completely. He was nice, tried to connect to other people, but there was always a distance and he never quite stopped feeling lost. And then this had happened.

Ryou's story, already being barely more than hints and phrases, now truly turned opaque. He hadn't quite felt it; it wasn't much. Visited a doctor and, on his doctor's advice, an expert on Harley Street. They had tried to hedge around it, spoke of great care, a quiet life – as if his life wasn't quite already – but they hadn't been able to hide it. In the end it all boiled down to six months. That was all they still gave him. Six months.

He turned towards Yugi, his eyes shining with a quiet desperation and silent resignation in his sad smile. It was a shock but in the end something he had anticipated already. He hadn't know what to do at first, but… Yugi nodded understandingly, even while his own throat constricted.

It wasn't nice, Ryou went on, talking as if he was just going on about the weather, as if this didn't really concern him. Just waiting till it would finally end. He didn't feel really ill, not yet, but the specialist had said that might come later. At first he hadn't thought like this would change much, that he could go on as usual, because in a way he might have already been waiting for that, but then he had realised, quite surprised, that he couldn't.

At this point Yugi interrupted him, as gently as he could, asking him if there wasn't anyone who could share this with him, anyone he could rely on. A friend or someone closer. Ryou just shook his head, the sad smile still in place. He really wasn't the close to anyone, hadn't been able to, and why would he want to burden anyone with somebody dying already. So he had come abroad, to get away from everything.

There was something delicate, something that Yugi felt was there, but was still eluding him. Like he could see the form, the outline of the puzzle piece belonging there, but not see the piece itself. "And so you came here…" He trailed off, trying to keep the talk going, to find what was eluding him, something to keep Ryou talking, not thinking about what Yugi was fearing more and more was his goal on this island. "Have you been here before?"

Again Ryou smiled, but now it wasn't quite so sad as it was wistful. "Yes, years ago." He spoke almost unwillingly. Suddenly, perhaps without realising it, he glanced back over his shoulder in the direction of the villa, with a look in his eyes that Yugi couldn't quite grasp. "I remembered this place." Slowly Ryou tore his gaze away from the villa to nod at the sea below. "One step towards eternity."

Yugi's voice was nearly shaking when he spoke. "And that's why you came here last night." He didn't want to believe it, but it was so clear, and so painfully understandable.

Ryou's head shot up, suddenly aware that there actually had been somebody there listening. "Yes…I mean, no I wouldn't say…" He spoke faster now, trying to protest weakly that he hadn't thought about what Yugi hinted at.

Yugi just went on. "And then you found somebody here, just like now."

Ryou looked at him, a wry smile on his face. "And thus my life has been saved? Isn't it still mine to do with what I want?"

There wasn't a lot Yugi could say to that. "Yes, you could say that. But still…"

The other interrupted him. " I see you point, don't get me wrong." He smiled at Yugi, kind and gentle. "I would try to talk somebody out of it myself, even though deep down I knew he was right. And you know I'm right too." He looked at the edge again, without seeing anything really. "A clean, quick end is better than a lingering one in pain. It would just cause expense and trouble and bother and…. In any case it's not like there is anyone in the world belonging to me, nobody who would be left behind bereft…." He trailed off.

Yugi had to take a deep breath before he could find his voice again. "And…if you had?" It was a small, weak try he knew, but there wasn't much else he could offer. He didn't quite know who to help, what to do, if there even was anything he could do.

Ryou took a deep breath. "I don't know." He sounded helpless. "Even then, I think, this way would be the best. But as it stand that's not a question." He stopped abruptly, again with that strange look in the eyes that left Yugi, who kind of was a romantic at heart, with the impression that there was someone, somewhere.

But Ryou changed the topic. He couldn't complain, he said not really. His life had been …alright, for the most part. It was a pity it would be over soon, but, really nothing much to regret. Except – again he stopped, looked back over to the villa with that strange look in his eyes, before he shook his head. It was alright, he claimed.

It was at that point that Yugi couldn't keep to himself any more. "But you could still do so much."

Ryou looked at him, and shook his head. "In six months?" His smile was tired, understanding. "I don't think that's a lot of time."

Yugi shook his head. "Time is relative." He knew he was quoting his grandfather now, but he didn't really care. "Those six months could be longest and most varied experience in your live." He knew what he was talking about, he realised that even as he spoke. In those few months since New Year he had lived more, experienced more, than in most of the years before that. Granted a lot of what he had seen had been strange, and in last case really creepy and depressing; but meeting Yami, living through that, that was something he couldn't regret. "You never know what could happen."

Ryou really didn't look convinced. "You would do the same, in my place."

Yugi shook his head again. "No, I don't think I would have the courage, to be honest. That needs courage, and I'm not at all very brave. And secondly…" He trailed off and Ryou looked at him curiously.

"Well?" Yugi looked up a bashful, almost embarrassed smile on his face.

"I'm too curious. I always want to know what will happen tomorrow." It sounded so optimistic and naïve, but it was true. There was always something else, something good that could happen. He would hate to miss that. And he had plans, hopes for the future, and he also wanted to see how his friends' lives would turn out, what would happen to their plans, wanted to see their triumphs…

Ryou looked at him, took in his smile, the hope in his eyes, and suddenly started to laugh. "Well, thank you for letting me talk to you. For listening to my ramblings." He rose, a smile still on his lips. "I can't imagine why, that must have been dreadfully boring, but thank you. It felt good to talk. Probably too good, I said more than I should." He looked down a Yugi, a thoughtful look on his face. "You should forget it."

Yugi looked up, his throat dry again with fear. "And when I hear about an accident tomorrow. Should I leave it at that? Not talk about…" He couldn't really say it.

Ryou shrugged. "That is really up to you. I'm sorry." He looked so sincere. "I'm sorry you got dragged into this. It would probably be a lot easier for you if you didn't know. I really shouldn't have talked so much." He trailed off and sighed. "At least you realised you can't stop me."

Yugi snorted. "What am I supposed to do, attach myself to your leg?" At the same moment the sentence left his mouth he threw a hand over it, horrified by himself.

Ryou just started to laugh while Yugi struggled to find the words. "I mean… It sounds horrible but you would give me the slip sooner or later, and it would be annoying and really not my business. You would rightfully be angry." He trailed off and sighed. "But at least for this afternoon it's not going to happen right?" He looked up so hopefully, Ryou had to laugh again.

"Probably. I can't go to my death leaving you under the suspicion to have done it." He looked down at Yugi. "If you insist on remaining here, of course."

Yugi nodded rapidly. "I do."

Ryou laughed again. "Then I have to wait for a better moment. I probably should go back to the hotel. Goodbye." He turned and took a few steps away from Yugi before he paused. Turning his head slightly he looked backwards. "I'm sorry we never met earlier. I think we could have been friends."

Yugi returned his gaze evenly. "Yes. I think we could." And it hurt, just like Ryou's happy smile, before he turned to walk away. Because it was true. Ryou was nice, with a gentle, calm and quiet humour that Yugi could appreciate. He could imagine being friends with him, talking about tabletop games, which was something he had never tried out before. He wanted to be friends with him – knew that it could be possible – and the fact that Ryou was thinking that it wouldn't matter if he died, that he was too unimportant or invisible to make a difference to anybody, hurt. Because nobody was unimportant, everybody mattered. But there wasn't much Yugi could do. Ryou had made that absolutely clear.

Yugi stayed where he was for a moment, looking out at the sea, waiting for what he barely knew. There must have been something, something that should happen next, but he had no idea. A part of him halfway expected Yami to pop up from nothing to talk to him, help him with this, but if the strange man haunting his thoughts had anything helpful to share, he didn't feel like sharing it at the moment. There were only Yugi, the plateau and the sea…and the villa.

Yugi's gaze wandered towards the building, a frown appearing on his face. He wondered… Ryou had looked at this house almost as much as the sea.

With a last look towards the edge he stood up, shuddering a bit at the thought of that fall and the merciless waves below. It was a fast way to die, probably, but surely not a painless one. Slowly he walked back along the cypresses and into the quiet garden, his eyes on the shuttered, peaceful house before him. Like so many times before he looked at the house and wondered who lived there. But this time, with the memory of Ryou looking back to it still fresh in his mind, the curiosity grew stronger. Following a rash impulse, he walked up the few crumbling stone steps to lay a hand on one of the fading shutters.

He was surprised to find that it swung open under his touch. For a moment he just looked at it before he noticed something in the window. A pair of eyes watching him from the darkness of the house. Startled and not quite able to hide an exclamation, he took a step back.

The figure in the window tilted its head to look at him. Now Yugi could recognise that it was a young man, probably his own age, with mid-length white-gold hair framing a dark face and a pair of startling purple eyes. His face was unreadable, probably due to Yugi's quite sudden appearance, but still it was probably only a matter of time before he reacted to the fact that Yugi had just trespassed onto his ground.

Speaking hastily, searching for words and losing whatever grasp of the Arabic language he had learned thanks to his grandfather, Yugi tried to form an excuse. He hadn't realised the house was inhabited, it had never been his interest to trespass and it was probably the best if he left at once. Yes, that was exactly what he would do. Awkwardly waving he staked a hasty retreat, and made it nearly halfway across the courtyard before the owner of the house finally spoke. "Wait! Come back."

It was an order, sharply spoken but not completely unfriendly, and so Yugi turned around almost automatically. The young man in the window looked him up and down with perfect calmness which couldn't quite hide his curiosity. "What the hell are you doing here? That old house isn't that interesting. And please, stop trying to speak Arabic. That's really painful to listen to." At least he didn't sound angry, a bit harsh maybe, but mostly he seemed to be honestly curious.

Yugi managed an embarrassed smile. "Yes, sorry I was just startled, and my practise isn't that great." He shrugged. "But I really don't have any excuse save curiosity. I've seen the house and the plateau so often, and it seems to fit there so well. I just wanted to know how it looked on the inside…" He trailed off, not really wanting to mention his strange idea that there was a connection between Ryou and the house. That would have required far more explanations and he honestly didn't want to drag his new friend into that mess.

The stranger looked at him for a moment before he shrugged, the smile suddenly appearing on his face being far kinder than his precious bearings, even if it had something of a smirk. "Then you better come in, if you really want to see what it looks like." He stood aside and Yugi hesitated only for a moment, remembering all the horror stories about kidnappings and disappearances which the media loved to bombard one with. But he didn't really feel like there was any danger connected with his new acquaintance and so he stepped slowly into the room.

It was dark, which was expected given that the other shutters in the windows were closed, but there was enough light to see that it was scantily and rather shabbily furnished, with a thick layer of dust covering everything.

The young man next to him caught Yugi's look and shook his head. "We are not really using this room. The house is way too big to be honest." He led the way and Yugi followed him, across a passage towards a room on the other side of the house. Here the windows were open, displaying a magnificent view of the sea, illuminated by the light of the sun. The furniture was still poor in quality, but now Yugi could see that it hadn't always been the case. It was old, but these furnishings must have been valuable one time ago. They just hadn't really been cared for. It looked charming yes, but somehow also like he had stepped into a museum, a place where time stood still.

His host turned around, and looked at Yugi like he wasn't quite sure what to do with him now. "So…I think we could have tea?" He added, a little more surer. "Rishid make a really good one, and it's been some time since we have had visitors." Without waiting for Yugi's answer he walked to the door and called out something in Arabic, which Yugi could partially make out to be about a guest and tea. That was reassuring. When he returned he sat down on the sofa opposite of Yugi. Using this first opportunity to really take in his host, Yugi returned his gaze.

His first impression was one of energy and vitality. He seemed to possess quite a forceful personality, being able to quickly draw the attention of anyone. Even sitting still he seemed to brim with restless curiosity. Yugi assumed that was one of the reasons he had been invited in. While the room seemed to be a museum, it's owner was vivacious. He seemed to have enough spirit left over to share with other people. Yugi, having always been a bit drawn into himself, couldn't help but be a tiny little bit envious. And also a bit afraid of his forcefulness. It reminded him bit of Téa, to be honest.

While he had considered his host, the young man had done the same, making just as little pretence about it as Yugi. At least he nodded, leaning back. "You know, you have incapable timing." He flashed him a bright smile. "I needed somebody to talk to now, somebody who really has no reason to worry. And you seem to be able to listen."

Yugi nodded, not quite sure if that was meant to be a compliment, but also a bit worried. He needed somebody to talk to who wouldn't worry? After his talk with Ryou that sounded far too dangerous for his liking.

The other seemed to catch his look and blinked, before shaking his head hastily. "Oh no, sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I didn't want to offend you. It just seems like you are the type one could tell anything to. You look trustworthy." His voice died away, and he looked up with a smile, as Rishid, the gardener Yugi had seen, entered with the tea.

Seeing Yugi the man raised an eyebrow quizzically, before shooting Yugi's host a look. The young man on the sofa just smiled, which was probably meant to be reassuring, but which failed miserably. Rishid just rolled his eyes and left, not without throwing one last glance back towards Yugi's host. Once the door closed behind him, the young man sild down on the sofa a bit more comfortable. " _So_ …" He looked at Yugi expectantly, who, not really knowing what exactly his host was waiting, for sipped a little bit of the tea. It was good, full of sugar as usual.

"Ah, so you live here?" It was stupid question, he knew, but really what was he supposed to say?

His host just shrugged. "Yes, that house has belonged to my family for some years. I was born here." He hesitated for a moment. "And it belongs to me since about four years ago." There was something in his tone, maybe the brief pause, that got Yugi to look at him closer.

"That's quite a long time."

His host smiled a strange almost harsh one. "Which one? My family's ownership or the four years since then?"

It sounded so simple, so easy to answer, but Yugi still hesitated. "That depends." Carefully he set down his cup while his host laughed.

"Oh yes, yes that's right. They are two different time periods after all. Nothing to do with each other." He stopped and looked down on the table before him. "Honestly I'm not sure myself which is long and which is short."

He was silent for a moment; then he looked up promptly with a bright smile on his lips. "Oh, I forgot… I'm Malik. Malik Ishtar. I'm sorry, I should have told you sooner, but it's so long since I talked to someone other than my family –" He interrupted himself again to look at Yugi with a frown. "It's so boring to always be the onlooker, isn't it? The one who just watches while life passes by. You know that too, don't you?"

Yugi shrugged. It did sting a little bit, being so carelessly cast as an onlooker, but he couldn't really deny that it was true. "Mostly, yes. I've always preferred my games, and watching other people play and live." He smiled. "But I learned a lot through this too."

There was mischievous twinkle in his eyes and Malik couldn't help but laugh also. "That's probably true. But you chose this from what you said. I didn't." He spoke so forcefully, that Yugi's smile disappeared. Malik's look had darkened; he leaned back, with one hand lazily trailing the armrest of the sofa.

"You have heard the story, haven't you? Of the village elder drowning at the foot of this cliff? About how strong he was, despite his age, how well liked and respected. And maybe you heard about how his son, his youngest child stood on the top of the cliff and had to watch him drown."

Yugi slowly nodded. " Yes. Yes I heard that story." Not in all detail, but it was familiar to him. People always mentioned it when they warned anyone away from the sea at this point or talked about the cliff.

A dark smile appeared on Malik's face. "That was my father. I was born here and shortly after I turned twenty he died here, driven by the surf on the black rocks, cut and bruised and mutilated, battered to death." He spat the words out like something long held blinked, shocked, unable to say anything at this graphic description, but Malik probably wouldn't have heard him anyway.

He leant forward, his eyes burning, a darkly amused smile on his lips. What he had to say must have been locked up inside himself for a long time. "What a tragedy, isn't it? For a young son, barley grown up, to stand helpless while the man he looked up to his whole life – the only parent he had, his father – fought for his life…and lost it in such a horrible way."

Yugi could barely nod, the picture all too clear before his eyes. Yes it was horrible. The thought that something like that could happen to him, that he could lose any member of his family that way. No he couldn't even bear to think about it. And yet…

And yet Malik didn't really sound like he was grieving. There was something wrong with his story.

"Yes that's terrible." His voice was weak when he finally found his words again.

As if Malik had only waited for this signal he suddenly threw his head back and laughed. "You are wrong. I'll tell you something truly terrible. And that is for the son to stand there and hope and long for his father to drown." He looked up, the burning fire gone from his eyes, leaving behind just a terrible weariness and guilty exhaustion.

Yugi's mouth fell open. "But….you mean…!" He couldn't finish his sentence and Malik nodded, closing his eyes for a moment.

"Yes. That's what I mean. That's what really happened. I stood there and looked down the cliff on the sea. The people though I was praying to Allah for his life to be saved. In all honestly I was praying to be able to wish that he might survive. There was only one thought in my mind: Please, help me not to wish him dead. Help me not to wish him dead." He took a deep breath. "It didn't really work. All the time I still kept hoping, and my hope came true." His shoulders slacked downwards. "It's terrible isn't it? Nobody should think that way about their own father." His voice was gentle, laced with a deep guilt and a small, barely existing acceptance. "I was so happy when I knew he was really dead and couldn't come back to –" He interrupted himself again and shuddered.

Yugi just looked at him, eyes burning with tears he was sure weren't really wanted here, unable to find anything he could say. "I'm sorry." Those were the only words he could get out, weak and a bit shaking, but honest to the core. "I'm so sorry that… That shouldn't happen to anyone."

Malik's head moved slightly. "Maybe. But those things do happen. And don't be sorry. It isn't your fault." He spoke almost mechanically. "Nobody knew what he was like. How he treated us, my sister, Rishid and me. Rishid is adopted, you know? Mother loved him; before she died, she wanted to keep him when he was a child. Father let her, but he never forgave her. And Rishid too. He never treated him like a son, more like an annoying servant…"

He trailed off again. "But everyone else thought he was so wonderful, the responsible and wise village leader. Raising all his kids alone, so brave after his wife's death. In truth nothing we did could please him. I did try, he was my father, and then he discovered he liked hurting people, and terrifying them, that probably more than anything else. He… What he did was dreadful. I probably should – no, _couldn't_ – tell you about it."

That was the first time in his monologue that he looked up, the first time he remembered that he had an audience. "He must have been a little mad, that's what Isis though. My sister, she is the one who really took care of us. But she also was only a child and we were alone here with him, and cruelty became his hobby. There wasn't a lot she could have done, any of us could have done, and yet, maybe if we had been a little bit more well-behaved… You always ask yourself…"

He trailed off and Yugi barely could breathe. His throat burned. How? Yes, yes it made sense that Malik would think about that. That man had been his father after all, but no that wouldn't have helped. As he had said, they had been children; it hadn't been their fault. And honestly, he could understand Malik wishing for his father's death more and more. And he wouldn't blame him for that either.

"And then it happened so suddenly. It was an accident. he knew the tides well normally, but… I don't know what went wrong, but still, I saw him drown, and I was glad for it." He looked up, eyes full of guilt. "That shouldn't happen."

Exhaustion was clear in his voice, and when Yugi leaned forward to grasp his hand comfortingly, he didn't move away. It wasn't even clear if he actually felt it.

"And the worst thing was it felt too good to be true. Isis and Rishid weren't there when it happened: they were visiting the next village for something, I don't remember what, and I had the whole house to myself. Liberty, for the first time in what seemed forever. Almost like heaven. No pain, no terror, just waking up without wondering what Father would do next. I don't think I have ever been so happy. What a terrible person, right?"

Yugi nearly would have agreed, if he didn't realised in the last moment, that Malik was talking about himself, not his father. His host paused for a long while, and Yugi, not knowing what to say and do, but still feeling that this wasn't everything that Malik still hadn't finished waited for a moment. "And then?" His voice was so soft it was barely audible, but Malik reacted anyway.

He leaned back a little, a small, sad smile on his lips. "I guess people are never satisfied. Or maybe the guilt was catching up. My siblings returned and it was nice for a while but they also started to build up their own lives, spending less time at home. I can't blame them, but somehow I never really wanted to move. It's my home, despite everything, and the important factor was that I could leave whenever I wanted. But it grew a little bit lonely, with way too much time to think… I really couldn't stand the silence." He interrupted himself with a groan. "It sounds so childish, like I was afraid of my own shadow."

Yugi nodded slowly. "I don't think so. It's understandable." And he wouldn't be surprised if Malik really had been afraid of his own shadow, even if that shadow was not real and more metaphorically…but he couldn't imagine that the happenings of the past would be that easy to shake.

Malik looked at him, and shrugged. "Either way the next bit…" He suddenly blushed, fidgeting with his hands. "I can't quite explain how that happened. There was a young Englishman staying at the hotel. He wandered into the gardens by mistake, and I couldn't really bear to throw him out. We talked a bit, and I…I made something up to be honest. Told him the villa belonged to an old English lady who was away, leaving me as a servant. It seemed fun, and I honestly wasn't ready to talk with anyone about what had happened, or my family, or anything. My siblings weren't there either, so no danger of discovery from that side. It was fun, and he was quite shy, but honestly, the nicest person I had ever met. We spend the day together…" He trailed off, leaving much unsaid, but his eyes were sparkling. "It was like one of the old fairy tales. Not really true, which kind of made everything easier."

Yugi could understand that. Everything had still been to raw, too near. This whole thing not being real, just make believe and Malik's lie about himself had been just a protection against something that, had it been real, could be potentially harmful. And that he couldn't have been able to handle probably.

"He came back, the next morning. I …I didn't really know what to do, I wanted to talk to him again, I promised him to meet him again…but I think I panicked. I just stood there, behind the closed shutters, without him knowing I was was in there while he looked for me. I honestly think he was worried. He was so nice, but I couldn't move."

Malik shook his head. "Either way, he went back to the hotel, and probably left the next day. I never saw him again." It sounded quite final, but there was something in his manner, a hint of regret, wistfulness perhaps, that convinced Yugi that Malik wasn't sharing everything. And honestly, why should he? Yugi was a stranger he had dragged here to talk to about…about what exactly? Why was he so intent to share his own history?

Carefully Yugi regarded his host. "And then? Don get me wrong, I'm sorry for you and always glad to be able to help, but I'm not really sure what you want from me." He interrupted himself, taking a stab in the dark. "If everything is as it should be, as if nothing happened, why talk to a stranger? Something did happen." It felt like a test at that moment, like all the pieces of the puzzle were in his hand and he ought to know. If he took the right steps he would know. But what and why? "Something's gone wrong."

Malik met his eyes evenly. "Maybe, but you know, for all that I'm glad to get everything off my mind. There has to be a line somewhere." Yugi couldn't help but think that after everything he already had been told that point maybe should have come up sooner. "And it's better for you not to know."

Yugi just looked at him. "Really? But you haven't cared about that before, so what makes this different?" He didn't knew what suddenly happened, his mouth moved on its own, dragged forward by his thoughts trying to untangle the puzzle before his eyes. "You really don't care to put me or any other stranger in any kind of inconvenience so it must be more."

He thought about Ryou, his voice still clear in his mind. _"It would probably a lot easier for you if you didn't know."_ Not quite the same words, but possibly the same meaning.

"Would telling me make me at least partly guilty in anything that would happen to you."

Malik's eyes widened, and he looked at Yugi differently, less like a guest to drop his worries on and more like he wasn't sure if he wasn't an enemy. "How? How did you know?" It was more of a hiss than a question, and Yugi, deciding that he really didn't need to recount everything that had happened with Ryou, skipped the question as if he hadn't heard it.

Instead he leaned forward. "But why? You don't seem to be tired of life?" Again, he had seldom seen anyone who seemed to crave for life more, who was more alive than his host.

Malik sat completely still, looking at Yugi taking everything in, and then, without warning, sagged backward, as if he had made a choice. "Very well." His voice was dry, tinted with a bitter amusement. "You have heard enough, may as well tell you the rest." He tilted his head back, not to look at Yugi, but at the ceiling. "My father's death – people are talking again, about what drove him into the water. They always do, every couple of years; it shouldn´t mean anything. But this time they want to look closer into it. Investigate it and all that; talking about how after all these years, this is the respect that is due to him and all that. If they are serious about that then what they might find could possibly be more than they want."

A dark smile lay on his lips and Yugi was stricken by the sudden feeling that Malik had not told everything about his father, and the growing knowledge that whatever could come to light could only mean harm for the siblings left behind. "Maybe earlier it wouldn't be quite so bad, but Isis has built herself a good life. She is working at the museum, getting ahead in her career. And she wants to get married soon. This could possibly ruin everything."

He shook his head. "The people just need something to distract them, either happy news or another tragedy. Isis' wedding will come too late, but another accident could always happen. They would have to let the old one rest, out of respect if nothing else." He looked up, directly in Yugi's eyes. "It wouldn't take much, just a small step, maybe a moment of anguish. It's a little price to be paid for the past happiness."

Yugi shook his head. "But…this is madness." He could see where Malik was coming from, at least a bit, but this plan was way too extreme. There had to be another way.

Malik just shrugged, still with that dark, resigned smile on his lips. "Maybe, but even if you try to talk me out of it, I won't listen. My life is my own; that's something too hard won to just give it away. And it's not like there is anyone who will need me. My siblings will miss me, yes, but they still have each other, and Isis has her future husband, Mahaad, even more after this tragedy than now. My life is useless; my death is not."

"Can you be sure of that?" The question was out before Yugi could catch himself, born from the impulse to say anything, do anything, he could to try and persuade at least Malik not to throw his life away. Not so calmly and for this reason.

Surprised by the interruption Malik blinked and Yugi, only half sure what he wanted to say, carried on.

"I mean, you never know what could happen. Let's say a man comes to a place to commit suicide, but he goes away and lives because another man was there. The second man saved the first one's life, without knowing him or even interacting with him at all, just because he was in the right place at the right time. You never know what role you could still play for somebody else, maybe without even knowing them or being aware of it."

It wasn't the strongest argument, but at least Malik didn't laugh in his face in response. He just stared at him.

"You are stranger than expected."

Yugi had to snort. "If there ever was a pot calling the kettle black."

It wasn't very loud – Malik wasn't meant to hear it – but his host still smiled. "Maybe. Ok, let's say my life isn't so much my own, that there is some responsibility in still being alive. Not that this would stop me, but what exactly do you want me to do?" He sounded amused and Yugi, with the pieces of the puzzle before him, simply decided to trust his instincts and hope he had gotten the right picture and not made a mess of it.

"I'm not asking you to change you plans, I don't have the power or the right but can you promise me at least not to do anything rash or extreme for two hours?" That should be enough time.

Malik hesitated for a moment, and then he shrugged. "Ok, I can spare that much time. Anything else?"

Yugi nodded, barely trusting his own ideas and wondering where the bravery for all of this came from. "Yes. As a favour h, could you leave the shutter in the room I came in unfastened and wait there tonight?"

In retrospect he would be grateful that Malik only stared at him like he had lost his mind. He could have reacted much differently. But whatever he thought about Yugi's state of mind he had promised to do him this favour and now Yugi was just able to take an embarrassing exit, and return to the hotel, leaving a rather curious boy behind him.

Darkness just began to fall when he reached the hotel. The sun had completely set, the red of dusk was almost gone, and the first stars graced the sky when he saw a solitary figure sitting on the terrace. With his white-blond hair Ryou really couldn't be mistaken for anybody else. In the falling light he almost looked like he was part of the coming night and stars.

Yugi took a deep breath when he came close to him. Just a few more steps and hopefully he really wasn't going mad. There was no Yami here now, nobody to point him in the right direction, just his own feelings about what he could do. He had to trust in them, just like in the middle of a card game, and it had never felt so terrifying before. But there had never been anything like this at stake before. He would have given anything to have somebody beside him, Yami maybe, to reassure him that he wasn't completely wrong. But his mysterious friend was absent, and so Yugi just had to soldier on alone.

"The evening is still quite warm." He spoke calmly, friendly, as if nothing was the matter. "I quite lost time sitting on the cliff." Ryou looked up with a half-smile. "Have you been there all afternoon? Making sure I don't come back?" It was weak joke, and now, looking at him Yugi could see the exhaustion in his face, and the shadows under his eyes. He was near at the end of his rope now and Yugi could only hope he could throw him at least part of a new one.

His new friend shook his head. "If so that was quite a waste of time." He looked up suddenly. "I'm going to go for stroll after dinner. You understand?" His voice sounded so soft, so gentle, that the determination behind it was nearly completely masked. "Please, don't try to interfere. It's useless."

Yugi shook his head. "I'm not going to."

Ryou blinked, obviously thrown off from what he had expected. "Oh, good. I know what you think after all."

Yugi sighed. "Is anybody able to know that about another person? We can imagine yes, but I'm sure I'm wrong most of the time."

Ryou smiled slightly. "Sounds reasonable."

Yugi returned his smile before changing the subject. "But, speaking of something different. The old villa on the cliff perhaps. Have you noticed it? I spent so much time staring at it that afternoon, I just had to go up to it." His smile turned to slightly embarrassed. "I probably shouldn't have, but, I actually tried one of the shutters."

He barely dared to look in Ryou's direction, but out of the corner of the eye he saw how his friends head shot up. "Really?" There it was a hint of excitement in his voice, barely concealed. "It…it was fastened, of course?" He sounded like he was asking Yugi to tell him that it wasn't so, and Yugi was only too happy to deliver.

"No," he spoke gently. "It was not. The third shutter from the end." With his head he gestured towards the house, in the vague direction the shutter he had told Malik to leave behind, again trying not to look at Ryou, but his lips twitched when he heard a small exclamation.

"But that was…." He broke of and Yugi, barely able to hide his triumph and pretending that he hadn't noticed anything, bid his friend goodnight. He was still a bit anxious, when he left Ryou behind, looking at the villa thoughtfully.

Those had been his own pieces of the puzzle, needed to complete the picture. He just hoped he had placed the correctly. But all doubts aside, he was quite certain about that. Royu had to pass the villa on the way to the cliff, and, his curiosity and maybe even some faint hope raised, would try that shutter. The memory of that meeting a few years ago had brought him here of all places after all. It would be strong enough to get him to that shutter. And then…. that was the one thing he couldn't really place.

The answer he had to wait for till tomorrow.

Ten o'clock the next day Yugi set foot in the garden of the villa again. He had resisted all temptations to visit earlier, but now he could not hold himself back any more.

On the way he passed Rishid, who seemed to be in exceptional good spirits this morning. Yugi returned his greetings happily, and continued on, hoping that this was god sign. But in front of the house he stopped. It looked so still, so peaceful. Almost like the whole thing yesterday had been a dream or his imaginings. But the peace didn't last for long.

The shutters he had opened yesterday flew open with a bang and with fast steps Malik came out of the house. "Ah, there you are!" His eyes were sparkling in the morning sun a wild, an almost feral smile on his eyes as he stormed over. Joy was visible in every one of his steps, no hesitation or doubts. Abruptly he stopped in front of Yugi, plating his hands in his sides to look at him. "How? How did you know?" He didn't even wait for Yugi to stumble out answer, before he continued. "Isis will return tomorrow. She can meet Ryou at once. It will be a bit of a scandal, everything moving so fast, but it will bury everything else and –" He stopped, a look of wonder on his face. "I didn't think he would remember." He grinned towards the vastness, and Yugi couldn't keep himself from smiling along.

"As long as you still have some happy months together."

He hadn't really meant to say it, to remind Malik that their time, Ryou's time, was still limited.

But his new friend just shook his head. "Really? You really think I would just let him die?" He sounded almost offended, like he could make death or fate bend to his will simply by demanding it. "After all these years, we just met again. I've known lots of people whom the doctors have given up on and they are still alive today. Die? He is not going to die." He sounded so sure, so certain, full of strength and vitality and determination, and Yugi had to agree. He had heard about such cases too. There was the personal factor too, you never knew how much of a role it played.

Malik looked at him again, scorn and amusement in his face. "You don't think I'd let him die, do you? And here I wanted to invite you to come back soon to visit, but if you are such a pessimist…" he trailed of and Yugi answered with a shake of his head.

"No, no I don't think you will." And for a moment it felt as if the words were true.

When – after a long talk with Ryou and Malik, the white-haired boy glowing with a kind of barely believing wonder – Yugi walked down the cypress path to the plateau, the sun had begun to set already. He had spent the whole afternoon with his new friends, but when he saw the bench overlooking the sea and found there the person he had expected to meet all along, his smile still widened and his heart skipped a beat.

Yami rose to greet him with a smile, same as ever, handsome, smiling, sparkling with mischief and yet strangely sad. "You expected me?" It was meant to be teasing and Yugi couldn't do anything but nod.

"I expected you."

Maybe even from the moment he had set foot on the island, certainly since Ryou's story.

Slowly he sat down next to Yami on the bench. The warm sea breeze was playing with his hair, and unbidden the memories of the thoughts that haunted him at the beginning of his stay here returned to his mind. Suddenly they didn't seem to be so dark anymore.

"It almost looks like you have been playing providence again." Yami turned to grin at Yugi. "You have that satisfied look on your face."

Yugi just snorted, turning his head upward to look at the sky. "As if you didn't know everything about it all." Out of the corner of his eye he could see that familiar look on Yami's face, an innocent, playful offendedness. "You always accuse me of omniscience." He shook his head with a smile, and Yugi looked down to regard him earnestly. "Oh yes you know nothing, I forgot. That was why you were there the night before yesterday, waiting…" He trailed off expectantly, and Yami looked away, his eyes settling on some point in the distance.

"Oh that."

Yugi nodded. "Yes that." He raised an eyebrow, and Yami laughed.

"I had a…commission to perform."

Now Yugi's attention was definitely captured. "A commission?" He had never imagined Yami to be working for anyone but himself. The thought was unsettling in a way he couldn't quite explain.

Yami nodded, pausing, picking his words carefully. "Could you imagine something so fanciful as an advocate for the dead?" He didn't look at Yugi as he spoke, pointedly so.

Yugi's heart was suddenly beating faster and his throat was dry. "An advocate for the dead?" He could only echo Yami, but what else should he do? This was the closest Yami had ever came to speaking about what he was or could be, and Yugi was almost afraid that saying the wrong thing or interrupting him now would mean this moment was lost forever.

Yami pointed a long, lean finger down on the blue depths below. "A man drowned here four years ago. He wasn't the only one in your friends' lives to leave so soon or brutally, but he left a lot of wounds even before. His wife, she died before him, partly through his fault, but she still loved him. Sad as such things are, they happen. But she also loved her children, and her greatest regret was never not being able to do more for them, to shield them from their father and the wounds he left. Sometimes such regret…something so deep leaves behind a desire to make amends, to heal what couldn't be protected before." He spoke to himself now, quietly, seemingly recalling a memory playing again before his eyes.

Yugi slowly nodded. "Yes, but death came too fast."

He could barely finished his sentence before Yami interrupted him. "Death!" There was a clear contempt in Yami's voice. "As if that could be the end. You do believe in a life after death, do you not? And if that exists why should the same desires, the same wishes, not operate in that other life. If the desire is strong enough, a messenger may be found."

His voice tailed off. For a while he and Yugi sat side by side, neither of them speaking. Then, Yami's shoulders sagged downwards, a weary smile appeared on his lips. "Forgive me. I let myself get carried away. I hope I haven't been too harsh." He turned his head to look at Yugi, smiling gently. There was a hint of apprehension in his eyes as he regarded Yugi carefully, almost as if he was afraid of his reaction.

Yugi returned his gaze thoughtfully. "No, no you haven't. That was…interesting." His heart was still beating too fast, all the reasons why staying near Yami, getting even closer to him, was bad, were still as acute as they had been before, maybe even more so. Yami had just basically declared himself an advocate of the death, spoken about that line between life and death as if that was something he could cross on a whim, and damn it, that should have been scary. It was a bit, but Yugi was also fascinated.

And Yami was still Yami, he had never treated Yugi with anything less than kindness, been willing to listen to him even in his greatest panic. And all things aside, if Yugi could spend the rest of the evening, maybe even longer, just sitting here, quietly talking with Yami about anything, or maybe not talking at all, just staying here and enjoy each other's company, he would. It was maddening, of that he was sure but Malik and Ryou had also been willing to try, to take on six months and hope that it could be more. When Yugi looked at Yami he could understand why. And he wanted to try also, to see if whatever was between him and Yami could work. If the other was willingly too, of course.

Slowly almost reluctantly he stood up. "I have to go. My flight is leaving early tomorrow." He didn't want to go, not yet, but maybe it was time. He needed a moment to think, to figure out what exactly he wanted or more, if there was even a chance to get it. So that, when he met Yami next time, he was at least prepared.

"We will meet again, will we not?" It was a question he nearly always asked of Yami, but this time it came out almost fearful. He didn't want to let go, not without hope to see him again.

Yami looked up to him, surprised, and then he smiled. "We will, I have no doubt. As long as I'm still welcome." It was an odd way of phrasing, but Yugi just nodded, relieved that he had his reassurance again.

"Of course you are." As if that could change so fast. He slightly turned his head towards the hotel. "Are you going that way too?" Maybe he could drag out this moment even longer, spend at least a few minutes more with Yami.

But his strange friend smiled with a hint of regret in his eyes. "I'm afraid not. I'll go back the way I came." When Yugi looked back over his shoulder, trying to catch one last look of Yami's silhouette enveloped by the burning read of the setting sun, he saw how his friend turned and stepped over the edge of the cliff.


	5. The Dead Harlequin

**The Dead Harlequin**

It was relief to be back at home, hear the familiar bustle in the streets, and feel the rush of the people around him. That holiday had been more exciting than he had expected, but now – with the memory of how it had ended – back at home, with the sun lighting up the street in a manner not really typical for England, it was hard to keep a smile off his face. Especially since he was going to meet Joey today.

To be honest, it was less a meeting and more a visit to make sure his friend's nerves weren't completely running away with him. Harchester Galleries, a small but well known and respected art gallery, was hosting and selling a few of Joey's pictures starting today, which meant that for the last couple of day Joey had changed between touching the sky in his conviction that he was the best ever, and it would be all so great, they would all see; and crushed down, thinking that was going to be the biggest failure ever, that no pictures were ever going to get sold. In the end Yugi had promised to come, and possibly buy one picture to help his friend out. Not that he minded, he liked looking at Joey's work. Yugi knew very little about art; he couldn't even really describe why he liked Joey's pictures that much. But he did, and so buying one wasn't going to be a terrible sacrifice.

The gallery was cool, a relief after the outside sun, and Yugi quietly purchased a catalogue to get some information's about the pictures. Joey could probably tell him more, but he didn't want to take all of his friend's time up.

The owner of the gallery greeted Yugi with a pleasant smile. "Good morning, you are here for Wheeler's work, are you? Fine, very fine indeed. It's quite unique."

Yugi nodded, and walked away with a smile. True, it might have been a sales pitch, but the owner had sounded genuine when he had talked about Joey's work, so he was inclined to take this as a sign that Joey's worries had been unfounded,

Joey's works were displayed in a long room directly past the entrance. A few people were strolling around, commenting on the paintings, looking at the catalogue and talking. The air was pleasantly relaxed, and Yugi could see how some people marked some of the pictures in their catalogue, possibly with the intention to buy.

He smiled. Joey would be overjoyed.

He couldn't spot his friend at once, so he took time to look through his work. They were water colours mostly, which was only visible on the second glance. At first Yugi had thought them to be coloured etchings. For a moment he stopped, looking at a small frame, displaying a charming little scene of Westminster Bridge with its crowd of buses, trams and hurrying pedestrians. _The ant heap_ , it was called, and Yugi had to stiffen a smile. Yes, that sounded like Joey, alright. Maybe he should buy that one, it would probably fit really well into the living room back at home, and grandfather would love it…

Still thinking it over, he turned, and suddenly stopped, staring at the painting in front of him. A small gasp escaped his lips. The picture capturing his attention was called _The dead harlequin_. The forefront of it was made up by a floor inlaid with squares of black and white. In the middle of the floor lay a harlequin on his back, his arms outstretched, still dressed in his motley of black and red, and wearing his mask. Behind him on the wall there was a window, and outside of that window stood another figure, seemingly the same one as the one on the floor, looking down on himself. Behind him the red glow of the setting sun illuminated his silhouette, and Yugi drew another breath. That painting was breathtakingly beautiful, and even without anything else noticeable about it, he would be hard tempted not to try and buy this, if nobody else had been faster than him, at least. But there was something else.

The figure was small, Yugi was barely able to make out any details in the face, but for a moment he actually thought he recognised Yami in the harlequin's features. That was ridiculous: Joey had met Yami exactly once. He had no reason to include him in a painting. But that one meeting had been memorable, if nothing else. Yugi still remembered how unsettled Joey had been by the whole evening, with the ghostly superstitions, the talk about murder and suicide, and the dragging out of a past he had known was hurting Mai. It was entirely possible that this had played a role in the creation of the painting, unintentional, possibly, but still… And either way one thing was clear. Yugi couldn't tear his eyes away from it.

He passed slowly through the gallery, back towards the entrance, without really seeing the paintings. His thoughts still wandered back towards that one picture. One harlequin dead, another looking through the window…or possibly the same man. It was a bit creepy, and Yugi was willing to bet that whatever had inspired this painting had given Joey a couple of sleepless nights at least. And still there was that similarity to Yami… He could feel a wave of excitement rising up, a small smile appearing on his lips. Whatever this meant, chance or possibly more, something exciting or at least interesting would happen. It always did when Yami appeared somewhere. Though he would not mention that to Joey; he really didn't need to drag his friend into that. What Yami possibly was, what he had hinted at, would definitely keep Joey from sleeping for a while.

With a fast beating heart and slightly shaking hands he approached the table, where one of the dignitaries of the gallery sat. He was oddly nervous, a bit unsure about how to proceed. Buying a painting was kind of an unfamiliar situation and while Yugi was way better at this than he had been back in school, he still was completely uncomfortable in new situations.

"Good day." His voice was even at least. "I'm thinking about buying…" He interrupted himself to check the catalogue in his hand, "Uh, number 39. If it's not already sold, that is." With a hopeful smile he looked up at the older man behind the counter, who nodded and consulted a ledger.

"Ah yes, the pick of the bunch. A little gem, isn't it. And you are lucky, it's not sold." He quoted a price which was barely on the edge of what Yugi could honestly justify himself paying, without living with too many guilty thoughts. "It's a good investment," the dignitary continued reassuringly, probably reading Yugi's face right when the boy reached for his wallet. "Next year you will probably have to pay three time this much." Not that Yugi was thinking about reselling this painting, but that was surely good news for Joey.

He signed a check, calming himself with the knowledge that the shop was doing good business at the moment, it was for his friend, and that his last talk with Pegasus about his own gaming project had been more than successful. The game was nearly complete, and Pegasus had talked about introducing him to a business partner of his, somebody Yugi did know, who would be perfect for this. The owner of Industrial Illusions hadn't been any clearer, enjoying keeping Yugi guessing way too much, and Yugi had accepted that with a smile. Pegasus loved his games and honestly, since the news of his engagement broke the man, had been walking on cloud nine. Him having his little fun was understandable. Even if he probably would have done the same under different circumstance. That was just who Pegasus was.

With the reassurances of the seller in his ears that they believed in Joey, Yugi turned around, only to nearly run straight into his friend. "Hey, careful Yugs. I know the paintings are distracting, but you should still look where you are walking." There was big grin on his face, his eyes sparkling. Clearly the nervousness from before had faded. Quite likely also because nobody in this gallery had any idea who he was, so he could pretty much blend into the background. And his paintings were selling which was definitely a big point.

Yugi nodded. "Yes, sorry, I was lost in thought. About the picture I bought in fact."

Joey's eyes lighted up even more. "Really? Oh, come on you have to tell me, which one was it?" He nearly jumped up and down on the spot, reminding Yugi more than ever of an excited puppy.

"Gladly, I was wondering about it too, so maybe you could answer a few question… The dead harlequin."

Joey stopped. "Ah, that one," He grinned slightly. "I told you, you would like it." At Yugi's confused gaze he elaborated. "You remember, that weird New Year's Eve? The picture that was giving me trouble? That's it."

Now that Joey mentioned it Yugi could vaguely remember Joey talking about a project of his, something about a Meiji mansion Serenity had dragged him too, and…

"Wasn't that when you said you were haunted by ghost stories?"

Joey winced. "God, that sounded terrible. But it was murders mostly, something happened in the room that inspired the setting…" He shuddered.

Yugi had to hide a grin, before he looked at his watch and started. "I have to go back to the shop; grandfather is going to need my help soon." He hesitated a bit. "Hey, if you like you can come over at dinner tonight to celebrate. Grandfather would love that and… Ok, I'm having a visitor, but it's Pegasus. That should be ok."

Joey nodded. "Sounds great!" As if it wanted to agree his stomach gave of a loud noise just at that moment. A few people turned their heads in their direction, and Joey waved them off with an embarrassed smile.

Yugi just laughed. "Sounds like you are hungry already. So, let's say eight?" Joey agreed, and with a last wave Yugi stepped out from the gallery, his purchase still in hand, into the bright afternoon sun.

When Joey arrived five minutes past eight, a little bit out of breath but remarkably punctual for once, he found Yugi and Pegasus already at the table. A fourth plate was laid out, and Joey looked at it, even while he was greeting Pegasus. "Is you grandfather late?"

Yugi had to laugh. "No, no, he couldn't come, I'm afraid. There is a lecture of some kind tonight, which he really didn't want to miss. But he asked me to congratulate you for him. He always knew you could do it."

Turning a bit red and with an embarrassed smile Joey sild into place. "That is least he could do, after how he nearly worked me to death when I first started dueling."

Next to Yugi, Pegasus nipped at his wine glass, the only one on the table. "Still, that doesn't solve our mystery. Who is the fourth guest we are waiting for, Yugi boy?"

Yugi looked down at the plate, and embarrassed smile on his lips. "Well to be honest…" God that was weird. He barely knew himself why he had laid out the plate, moved by a feeling that might have been nothing more but a strange hope, as if he could summon his guest here by pure force of will. "I half expected a friend of mine to drop by, but I'm not sure." He looked both at Joey and Pegasus. "You remember him? Ya – Atem Sennen?" He corrected himself on the name in the last second, but not fast enough for Joey, who raised a quizzical eyebrow in his direction.

Pegasus set his wineglass down, and clapped his hands together. "Of course I remember him! What a nice surprise."

Joey, still watching Yugi, shrugged. "Eh could be nice. If there isn't as much talk about suicide this time. I'm still having nightmares from New Year." He turned his head sideway. "But I didn't know you were friends. So you met him again?" He sounded genuinely curious, even if there was glint in his eyes, Yugi wasn't sure he was liking.

"Uh, yeah, sometimes. We crossed paths now and then, and we talked and…" He realised he was rambling and broke off. There was grin on Joey's face now, and Yugi wanted to bury his face in his hands. Damn it, he would never live that one down.

Determined to change the topic, he congratulated Joey again to his success today, and pointed at the painting laying on a commode near the table, till Yugi and his grandfather found a fitting place for it.

Pegasus threw an interested glance over it. "Dear me, isn't that the Terrace room at Kanryuu Mansion?"

Joey blinked confusedly, before he nodded slowly. "Ah, yes. I didn't realise you knew it."

Pegasus shrugged. "Flightily. The last owner was in a different line of business, and after what happened there two years ago, there weren't many guest there after that." He took up his glass again, and sipped it thoughtfully, a satisfied smile on his face as he realised both Yugi and Joey were staring at him.

Joey at least nodded. "Yeah, I remember that there was some talk about a tragedy or something. Serenity wanted to go there with a tour group."

Pegasus nodded. "Ah, that makes sense. The mansion is an antiquity itself, national heritage and all that. Of course there would be tours."

Joey shrugged. "It looks like that. Beautiful, but something about it gave me the creeps. Grim and ghostly, that what this damned house is."

Now Pegasus really grinned. "Well it fits. There are two authentic ghost there after all." He raised his fingers to count them off. "One, Charles I reputedly walks up and down the terrace with his head under his arm. I can't remember why. And then there is the weeping lady with the silver ewer, who always appears after one of the Kaiba's dies."

Joey shuddered. "Yeah, ok, I actually didn't need to know that. Change of topic, please?"

Pegasus raised his hands in defence. "Ok, no more ghost stories, I promise. But the family has been particularly unlucky. Four holders of the title and the company died violent deaths and the last lord committed suicide." He stopped, the smile disappearing firm his face. "I was actually there when it happened." His gaze turned inwards. "The house has been shut up for guests ever since. Must have been a terrible shock for the boys to see their father die like this. They had a fancy dress ball there, I think it was even the older one's birthday, not that he would have known or cared for a lot of people there, but…" He sighed "Not that it would have made a difference. Just as the guests arrived Gozaburo locked himself into the oak parlour and shot himself."

Yugi startled. There was something, a movement in the corner of his eye, where the empty place was. Nobody was there when he looked at it, but for a moment he thought he could see somebody and was left with the impression that someone had spoken to him, that Yami had spoken to him. But it was so faint he had probably imagined it, and he couldn't make out the words either way.

With a shake of his head he turned his attention back towards the conversation. "The boy. So he left sons behind?" That must have truly been terrible, to find your father on your birthday like that.

Pegasus nodded. "Two yes. They were adopted, a pair of brothers." He turned slightly towards Yugi. "But you know them, the older one at least. After all, you took his crown as the best duelist in the world." He tsked. "I don't think he has forgiven you, right?"

Yugi's mouth fell open. "Seto Kaiba?"

Joey shot him a confused look, and Yugi was abruptly remembered that his friend never met him. He knew Kaiba's name, of course but he had been sick when Kaiba had held his great Battle City tournament, and while Yugi had encountered the other duelist quite often, Joey never had that pleasure. Probably because Kaiba wasn't really playing in tournaments which her wasn't holding himself anymore.

He had gotten a bit obsessed with beating Yugi. However, Yugi had grown to respect Kaiba, and even considered him a friend of sorts. He wasn't quite sure if Kaiba would return the sentiment, but that that didn't really matter now. He had never expected him to be caught up in such a tale. He was way too serious to live in a house filled with ghosts. But if Gozaburo had been his adoptive father… What had happened was terrible. Kaiba wouldn't want his sympathy, but Yugi couldn't help it.

Pegasus agreed. "The very same. No wonder he keeps the house locked up. It's typical for him." He looked again at the picture. "I remember the newspapers were all over that. They couldn't really show pictures of the body – Kaiba would have them crucified alive – but they did manage to snatch pictures of the terrace room. Not the room where it happened, of course, but the press didn't care. That room had its own atmosphere."

Joey nodded slowly, still not looking entirely happy after the mention of ghosts, but he perked up when the talk came back to the room on his painting. "I remember that. This one rug in the middle of the room probably added to it. Looked like a gigantic blood stain to be honest; it was the only thing visible in that damn room."

Yugi smiled at him. "So that is where you got the idea for the picture for."

Joey shrugged. "Probably. It makes sense." He laughed uncomfortably. "Though, if I had to set up a tragedy I would do it in the room next to it, the little panelled one. That place gave me the heebie-jeebies."

Pegasus looked thoughtfully at his wineglass. "The oak parlour, yes. Congratulations Joey, you correctly identified the haunted room." Joey groaned, while Pegasus continued undaunted. "There is a priest's hole there. Gozaburo always claimed that Charles I was concealed there once. Two deaths from dueling happened there, and it was where Gozaburo Kaiba shot himself." He frowned. " But it's strange. You said the rug was red?"

Joey nodded.

"That could only be the Bokhara rug. It's worth a couple thousand pounds." He didn't notice how Joey's eyes widened at the mention of the sum, nor did he shut his mouth.

"Couple thousand…for that old thing?"

Yuugi was still too lost in his thoughts.

"Normally it laid in the oak parlour, that's the place for it. It must look very silly on that expanse of marble tiles."

Yugi's eyes wandered back to the empty chair next to his. Now he was sure he had heard something, and before he returned to the conversation he couldn't help but shake his head a little. Really, if Yami was so interested in the picture and this conversation he could at least make his way here. There was no reason to have Yugi do the asking for him. He thought he could hear faint traces of laughter, far away, as an answer.

"Curious. Any reason for it to have been moved?"

Pegasus shook his head. "None that I can remember, but it must have been very recently. Gozaburo even mentioned it on the very day of the tragedy, if I remember correctly. Said it ought to be kept under glass."

Joey snorted. "If it was worth that much, than keeping it under glass is the least they could do. Who the hell pays that much for a rug?"

Yugi smiled. "Kaiba has a tendency of showing off." That was the understatement of the millennium. They guy had bought and shut down a whole city for his tournament. "But it still doesn't make sense. You said the house was locked up immediately afterwards. If everything was left exactly as it was…" He trailed of, and Pegasus nodded thoughtfully.

But he couldn't answer since Joey burst in with another question. "Ok, since we are actually doing this, why the hell did that guy even kill himself? Money? Troubles?"

Pegasus shrugged. "I have no idea. There were some theories but the family never really spoke about it." He raise a delicate eyebrow, hinting at something more than he said.

Yugi sighed. "I suppose it was suicide?" After all his experiences with Yami he nearly dared to bet it wasn't. Why else would he hear his friend's voice? Well he could go mad, that was always a possibility, but he honestly preferred the other explanation.

Pegasus looked at him. "That is certain. You forget I was in the house myself. Or do you want a full recount of the happenings?"

Yugi smiled, looking towards the empty chair at his side, as if he heard a joke which was hidden from the others. So typical. "If it's not too much of a bother. You remember, sometimes one see things more clearly in the aftermath, years later, when it wouldn't have been visible at that moment."

Joey leaned forward in his chair. "Isn't that what Sennen said, back at New Year's? I won't deny it worked, but just how much time did you spend with him in the meantime?"

Yugi was thankfully saved from answering when Pegasus spoke. "Well, It's not like I can ever forget what he did in Greenways, so what exactly do you want to know?" He looked at Yugi expectantly, who took a deep breath.

"Everything you can tell us, please. I don't know anything about that."

Pegasus leaned back, twirling his glass thoughtfully in his hand. "Very well then. The whole thing was entirely unexpected. Gozaburo was the last person anyone would expect to commit suicide. Mostly because with his ego he would have though his company would go crashing down almost immediately without him. And in a way that did happen, though not how he thought it would be." He interrupted himself with a small laugh. "Kaiba Corporation used to produce weapons before his death, did you know that? One of the biggest players in the market before the new owner changed everything. Can't imagine everybody was happy about that."

He shook his head and went back to the story. "Well either way, there was the big party at the house, and he was his usual self. Full of self-confidence and assurance, the old patriarch of the house. Nobody would think he would go and shoot himself just as the guests arrived."

Joey snorted. "Yes, that shows a real lack of tact. Could have waited till they were gone at least."

Pegasus took this black humour in with another shrug. "Well, he never cared about anyone but himself. If it was the best thing to do for him, he would do it whenever he wanted and forget everyone else. But it was weird because that created quite a stir and a scandal, and he wouldn't really want to drag the company through something. It leaves behind a bad taste, especially with a dealer of arms."

Yugi nodded. "And yet he did it."

Joey turned his head. "Wouldn't that speak against it being suicide? If it was that out of character?"

Pegasus sighed. "Probably, but it couldn't have been anything else. Four of us were at the top of the stairs, I don't quite remember who. Either way, Gozaburo passed along the hall below and went into the oak parlour. A girl swore he had a ghastly look on his face and that his eyes were staring, which was pure nonsense. She stood with us on the stairs; we couldn't even see his face from where we stood. But his walk was strange, hunched in, when normally he walked like he expected the whole world to move for him. As if something was suddenly weighing him down instead of moving him forward. One of the girls called to him. She was a lawyer's assistant I think. She was looking for him with a message from Seto Kaiba, but he paid her no attention and went into the oak parlour, slamming the door shut behind him. We heard the key turn and I remember somebody joking that our host was in a terrible mood today. And barely a minute later there was the shot.

"We immediately rushed into the hall. There was another door leading from the oak parlour into the terrace room, but it was locked too. We had to break the door down in the end. Gozaburo was already lying on the floor, dead, with a pistol close to his right hand. Nobody else could have been in the room with him, and an accident was completely out of the question. He wasn't the type of man to be careless with his weapons. So what else could it have been?"

Joey leaned forward. "And if the murderer had escaped?"

Pegasus raised an eyebrow? "How? If you can give me a piece of paper and a pencil I can draw you a plan of the place. There are only two doors leading into the oak parlour: one into the hall and one into the terrace room, and both of the doors were locked from the inside with the keys still inside the lock?"

Joey tried again. "The window?"

"Shut and with the shutters fastened across it." A pause followed Pegasus words. He looked over at his two friends with a sad smile. "So that would be it."

Yugi reluctantly nodded. "It looks like it." Maybe he should be relieved that it wasn't murder, but a suicide was barely less horrible. And if it was a suicide it meant that he was just chasing his own shadow…

Pegasus looked over to Joey. "Mind you even if I was teasing with the ghost stories before, I have to admit that you are right. There is a strange atmosphere around this place, especially that room. Some of the wooden walls around the house have deep sword cuts, from a fight that was supposed to have taken place there once, and the entire wall of that oak parlour is riddled with bullet holes from duels that have taken place there. It looks like somebody shot a machine gun in there. Then they have their own version of the Watching Cavalier, a strange stain on the floor that always comes back no matter how many times one replaces the woods. I suppose there will be second blood stain on the floor now."

Joy shuddered. "Thank you, I really didn't need to know all of that."

But Yugi looked over interested, even if Pegasus words had given him the creeps too. He still hadn't given up on the hope that he was chasing more than his own shadow, some strange feeling that something didn't quite fit in the picture. "Was there so much blood?"

Pegasus shrugged. "Actually no, it was curiously little, according to the doctor." There it was again, a piece that didn't quite fit, that gave Yugi a reason to pressure on.

"Uh, this is probably incredible tactless but where exactly did he shoot himself? In the head?"

Pegasus shook his head. "No, through the heart."

Next to Yugi Joey looked up. "That's a fucking hard way of doing it." Given his past he had more experience with guns and other deadly weapons that anyone could honestly want. "It's really difficult to know where one's own heart is. Not the way to do it if you want to make sure you are dead."

Yugi shot him a concerned look. He was always getting a bit worried when Joey talked about his past, mostly because he still kind of feared it would one day catch up to him. He barely heard that Pegasus was talking again.

"Either way, Quite a spooky place that whole building. I'm almost sad I never saw anything."

Joey looked at him like he was mad. "Why would you want to see a ghost?" He sounded so shocked that Pegasus had to laugh.

"Oh I don't know. The ghost of Kanryuu Manor never harmed anyone as far as I know, and every servant swears they saw the lady with the silver ewer once. It would be fun to share in this superstition, don't you think?"

While Joey argued very enthusiastically against that, Yugi heard the voice – Yami's voice – again, barely more than a whisper in his ear. "Superstitions can be useful." He frowned. Useful? What would be useful about superstitions? Of course, for once Yami's incorporeal presence decided to talk in words he could actually understand and then it was a riddle.

He got thrown out of his thoughts, when Pegasus turned towards him again. "Now, Yugi-boy, is your curiosity satisfied about whether or not it was suicide?"

Yugi sighed. "Oh yes. I mean, it looks quite illogical from what you said about his character but there isn't any way to deny the facts." The facts…there was something there, something in them that was still outside his grasp.

Pegasus was still musing aloud. "Of course, the most interesting thing about it all is the unsolvable riddle. Why did he do it? There were rumours, all sorts of people talking, but you know how it is."

Yugi nodded.

"And still nobody knew anything concrete?" Joey looked from one to the other. "Well, the first question in any detective story is always who gained anything? So did anyone?"

Yugi looked up. "Didn't you say Kaiba completely reworked the company?" He didn't want to think something like that about Kaiba, the man could be ruthless when he wanted to be, but despite everything Yugi couldn't imagine him committing actually murder. But he was the first one to gain…

Pegasus shook his head. "Yes he did, but murdering his adoptive father would have been useless and frankly in pretty bad taste for him. He already got the majority of the company and complete control before that." He grinned. "It was quite a battle for a while, and such a blow to the poor company board. The big five as they were called. They hoped they could grab the majority for themselves, especially in the chaos of the aftermath, and then it turned out that it was way too late. Gozaburo's hold over his company fell mere hours before he shot himself."

Joey blinked at Pegasus aghast. "But…isn't that a first class motive? I mean for his suicide? The man lost his whole company!"

Pegasus looked up. "That was the most likely theory yes, and as far as I know most people are convinced of that. So much that there are is talk that Seto Kaiba drove his father to suicide. It's not the same as murdering him, but for a lot of people the blame rest fairly well on his shoulders."

Yugi's eyes widened. "That's terrible!" Kaiba probably would be loath to have his sympathy, but still, he couldn't imagine what it would be like to be blamed for his own father's death.

Even Joey took a gulp. "Well, that's harsh."

Pegasus nodded. "True. But Kaiba is not the guy who can't fight this off. He can be quite an asshole when he wants to. I would to see someone to try and say it to his face."

Yugi had to stifle an awkward laugh. Oh yes, Kaiba definitely could defend himself. He wasn't sure if anything would be left from his accusers.

Joey snorted. "Well then…funny thing, I met such an asshole myself recently. Biggest one to walk the planet, I think."

Pegasus shook his head in mock disappointment. "Oh no, no, no. Nobody can be a bigger asshole than Kaiba, you must be mistaken."

His eyes sparkled curiously, and Joey sat up. "Oh yes? Then listen to this."

From what he told, it really seemed to have been quite a fight. Fought with words and not with cards, but Yugi was still feeling sorry for anyone who had been trapped into the train car with those two. Especially since the other guy, whose name Joey hadn't really caught, had been calling him a mutt, which really didn't go over well with Joey. But there was something else in Joey's words, a certain excited sparkle in his eyes that suggested he had enjoyed the fight.

In the end, he leaned back with a shrug. "Well, luckily I'm never going to meet that bastard again. And good riddance for that." But he sudden oddly disappointed when he said that. Yugi shot his friend a curious look, and Joey, noticing this, raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Yugi hastily shook his head. "Ah, nothing. Just that encounter sounded interesting.."

Joey turned his head quizzically. "Hmm…maybe, there was something about this asshole. He didn't seem to be quite there, unless he was dishing out insults or getting riled up. Like a statue or something. Like he closed in on himself."

Yugi shook his head. That was an interesting description. "Like something happened to him that made this necessary?"

Joey's shrugged. "Maybe. I have no fucking clue to be honest. It's not like he was eager to tell me anything except making very clear that I'm taking up space belonging to him alone."

There was a knock from the door, and Yugi nearly jumped out of his seat to get it, believing that finally his missing guest had arrived. But his excitement turned to disappointment and astonishment when he opened the door and found himself opposite a woman he was sure he had never met before in his life. She was tall, her skin a little bit darker than it was usual, her dark hair falling down on her back in twists and braids. A yellow scarf was holding it back.

She turned towards Yugi with a brilliant smile. "You must forgive the unconventional call, Mr. Muto. I know I'm imposing on you." Her voice was rich and dark and seductive. "I'm Aileen Rao."

That name actually meant something to Yugi, if mostly because Téa had been talking a lot about her, She had started out as a dancer, but had then broadened her approach with a series of single-hand matinees that, according to Téa, had taken London by storm. Yugi really wasn't that up to date on theatre and dancing. He remembered that the artist's nickname had been 'the Lady with the Scarf' because of the single yellow scarf she used to impersonate various characters. The scarf had been the head-dress of a peasant, the coif of a nun, the shawl of a mill worker and hundreds of others things Yugi had already forgotten. Téa admired her more than anyone he knew, which alone was reason enough to respect her in turn. But before he could try and find the right words to greet her, she was already speaking again.

"But you see" – she laughed, a charming little, self-embarrassed sound – "when I want a thing I simply can't wait. I must have it."

Yugi slowly nodded. "I see?" It was more of a question than a statement, but he really couldn't think of what a famous dancer and actress could possibly want from him.

Aileen turned her delightful smile at him. "Good, then I'm coming straight to the point. I was at the Harchester Galleries today, and I saw a picture there that I simply couldn't live without. I wanted to buy it, but I couldn't because you had managed to do that first. So…" She paused. "I do want this picture. I need this picture. Please Mr. Muto, I must have it. I've got my check book with me." She looked at him hopefully. "I've heard a lot about you, about your dueling career. People always say you are so kind. People are always kind to me, you know. It's very bad for my character, but they still do it."

She smiled up at Yugi hopefully. It really sounded just like a charming woman asking for a simple fulfilment from him, but there was something else that made Yugi think twice about that. It were her eyes, staying cold and dark even though she sounded so sweet and kind, remaining fixed on his face with a ruthless certainty, that conveyed pretty well that Aileen had no intention of leaving without the picture. He didn't know why, but in that moment he knew that he wouldn't let her leave with _The Dead Harlequin_. There was something too important about that picture, something that made him afraid of handing it over. He just had to find a way to do it without offending her. Like that would be easy.

He smiled in return. "I'm sure that everybody is only delighted to be able to help you."

Her own smile widened, remembering him a bit off a predator ready to pounce. "So you are going to let me have the picture?" It still sounded happy, but there was a sharpness in her face as she said it, an underlying threat, that gave Yugi a short pause.

"Ahh…no, I'm sorry." He hastily shook his head, trying to sound not too awkward. "You see that picture was meant for a friend. It's a present." It was the first thing that came to his mind, and he could see how Aileen's eyes clouded over

"But surely…"

Whatever she thought was surely, Yugi would never know because at that moment the telephone started to ring. Silently blessing whoever had the brilliant idea to call right at that moment, Yugi nodded apologetically with his head, and turned towards the phone. The voice on the other and of the line, cold and sharp, was all too familiar.

"Yugi? I need something from you." It was a demand not a question, and even though the other couldn't see him, Yugi nodded, stifling a sight at the thought of why everybody needed something from him now.

"Hi Seto. Is there another tournament in the works?" Seto barely bothered to call about anything else. Yugi wasn't sure if Seto had fully caught up on them being friends, or if that was just his way of communicating with everyone, but he really could see nothing else Seto could want from him than another duel at a tournament.

But Seto Kaiba was nothing if not surprising. "As delightful as that would undoubtedly be, no. There was a picture today at Harchester Galleries, depicting part of my home. _The Dead Harlequin_. I heard you bought it, and I now want to buy it from you."

Yugi blinked, partly surprised that it was again that picture, and partly that Seto was actually sounding pretty polite about the whole thing. What was so important about the picture? Well in Seto's case he could understand that quite well, if he thought about it. Even if Joey hadn't intended that, what he had drawn must've looked way too much like Kaiba's dead adoptive father. If anyone had a right to that picture…. Also, wasn't that lucky?

"Kaiba, no need for that. I hope you will take it as a gift." He heard a sharp exclamation behind him, in the same moment that Kaiba snorted.

"A gift Yugi really? I didn't know we were that close."

Yugi stifled a sigh. Trust Kaiba not to take a simple gift without commenting on it. "Life is full of surprises isn't it?" It came out a bit sharper than intended, but the evening was starting to get long. "But whatever you think, we are friends, and I would be happy if you would take it." There was moment of silence, which Yugi hastily used, before Kaiba could make a snarky comment again. "But, ah, could you come and pick it up at the shop yourself? I'm having visitors over…" He trailed of, but there were no other words necessary.

Kaiba spoke nearly at the same time as he finished. "I'll be there at once." Without saying goodbye he hung up, leaving Yugi shaking his head. Kaiba…well, that was as polite as he could get, he supposed.

Yugi turned around, just in time to find himself nearly face to face with Aileen Rao. "You were talking about that picture, weren't you?" She spoke quickly and angrily, her dark eyes blazing.

Yugi gulped, and hastily nodded. "Yes ah, the friend I'm going to give it to is arriving here in a couple of minutes."

As if someone had turned on a switch, Aileen's face changed. No trace of anger was left; there was nothing but a big smile on her lips. "So you may permit me to try and persuade him to give it to me."

Yugi suddenly had a scene playing in his head, about Aileen trying her charming number on Kaiba, and had to hastily stifle a laugh. "Oh ah, you can certainly try…" Dear god, he wouldn't wish this on anyone but that was promising to be very amusing.

He tried to hide the smile that was threatening to appear on his lips, and pointed to the door connecting to the living room, where Pegasus and Joey were still waiting. "Since you are going to stay for a while, would you come with me? There are some friends of mine you could meet." He held the door open for her, and after crossing the hall, opened the door to the living room. "Miss Rao, let me introduce you to Maximillian Pegasus and Joey Wheeler, old friends of mine." He smiled. "Joey painted the picture which you admire so much." But then he stopped startled, when a third figure rose from the chair which he had left empty beside his own.

"I'm so sorry for my tardiness." Yami bowed his head in greeting with a smile. "You expected me tonight, but I sadly got held up for a while on business. However I'm glad that I still could make it."

Yugi's shoulders dropped in relief, a smile appearing on his face. "Of course! I'm glad that you are here, I mean, I've been carrying on as good as I could but …" He stopped when he saw Yami raising an eyebrow, smiling at him encouragingly. But mostly because he saw Joey looking at him over Yami's shoulder with an entirely too surprised look in his eyes.

"Well, let me introduce you. Mr. Atem Sennen, Miss Aileen Rao." It might be a flight of fancy, but as Yami politely bowed to make his introduction, Yugi was sure that Aileen shrank back a little. There was a curious expression flitting across her face but it was gone in an instant.

Suddenly Pegasus voice rung out. "Oh that is interesting." Seeing everybody in the room turn to him, the eccentric man waved it off with a hand. "Sorry but it just occurred to me. Sennen you have a distinct likeness to the harlequin in the picture. The man looking in from the window." While Yami turned to luck at the picture curiously, Pegasus turned to Joey. "You two knew each other fleetingly from what I gathered before. Was this likeness intentional?"

Joey's eyes wandered to the picture, then to Yami, then back to the picture. "Fuck if I know." He sounded honestly confused. "I started working on that one before New Year, and the harlequin had always been a part of it, but damn it, it really looks like that." With narrow eyes he looked at Yami again.

But Yugi didn't pay as much attention to that as he should. He was focused on Aileen, who drew in her breath sharply, and stepped back a little when she heard that. Filing this away for later he turned back towards his others guest. "I told you I was expecting someone. You both know how good Yami is a unravelling mysteries. He really can make you see things." He beamed at Yami, who shook his head slowly with a smile.

"Yugi tends to exaggerate, I'm afraid. If been able to help him out once or twice but why he insists his extraordinarily good deductive work has anything to do with me I have no idea. Modesty, perhaps."

Pegasus smiled. "Well, you certainly have a talent for asking the right questions. And I still need to thank you both for what you did for Cecelia back then." Yami shook his head "It was a pleasure to be of help, nothing else."

Fidgeting a bit, Aileen turned towards Joey who was still looking from Yugi to Yami with a kind of dawning threat on his face. "I'm curious," she began nervously, "if you have been working on the picture for so long, what put the idea in your head in the first place?"

Joey snapped out of his thoughts and looked over to her. "Well, I don't quite know." He shrugged. "There was something about the place, Kanryuu Mansion, with the big empty room and the terrace outside. All this damned talk about ghosts and things, I suppose, just took hold of my imagination. I just got told about the death of the late Gozaburo Kaiba in more details than I ever wanted to know." He shot an annoyed glare at both Yugi and Pegasus, who tried to look guilty and failed miserable. "Either way, I never thought that death was the end. So when you die, and your spirit lives on, mustn't it be odd? You might stand outside on the terrace and watch down through the window at your own dead body. That though gives me the creeps. You would see everything."

He shook himself, even as Aileen asked, "Everything? What do you mean by see everything?"

Joey shook his head "Well, what happened of course. You would see…"

At that moment a loud, resolute, series of knocks sounded from the door and Yugi jumped up again to open the door. Kaiba strolled in, as usual giving the appearance that everything here belonged either to him or was to insignificant to bother with. He nodded once over at Yugi, who smiled.

"It's great that you could come."

Kaiba nodded. "Yes, yes, can we skip the pleasantries please?" His eyes wandered through the room, stopping shortly at Aileen Rao, where they narrowed. "Have we met before?"

Aileen shook her head hastily. "I would remember that Mr. Kaiba. It's a pleasure to meet you." He voice had suddenly changed, taking on a slight transatlantic tinge.

Yugi blinked at her confused, but at this moment Pegasus got up. "Kaiba! How lovely to meet you!"

Kaiba's face made clear that he didn't quite share his business partner's enthusiasm. "Pegasus. You are here too."

Pegasus laughed slightly. "Of course. And the evening is shaping up to be even more interesting than expected." There was an amused light in his eyes, and Yugi hastily moved on with the introductions, hoping to quell a discussion before it could start. Too bad that he seemed to be out of luck that evening.

"And this is Joey. He is one of my oldest friends, and he drew the picture in question."

"Indeed?" Kaiba turned his head, only to suddenly stop. He and Joey just looked at each other before Kaiba finally spoke again. "You!" He sounded surprised, and just as harsh as usual, but there was something else there that Yugi couldn't quite identify.

Joey drew himself up a bit taller. "Yes, me. Got a problem with that?"

Kaiba snorted. "No, I just didn't know dogs could draw."

Joey's eyes started to blaze and Yugi was sure he could see his friends hairs starting to stand up. "You… You!" Yugi tried to figure out where and how they knew each other, but at the same time he knew that if this went on there would be trouble. New founded fame as an artist or not, he probably still didn't have the money necessary to pay Kaiba if he even laid on finger on him.

"And that is Atem Sennen, a friend of mine." This time he was watching Kaiba closely, but even as he turned to greet Yami with a short nod, there was no sign of recognition in his eyes. Instead, he just turned back to Joey almost immediately.

When everybody finally settled down, Yugi was relieved to find that the two of them weren't sitting next to each other, even if the fact that they sat opposite of each other wasn't really that much more reassuring. Hastily, he turned towards the painting and placed it carefully on the table, partly to show everyone, partly to put something between Joey and Kaiba, which both of them would be more reluctant to hurt than the table. Then he took a step back and wondered how the hell he was supposed to deal with this.

Next to the empty chair, which was his own, he caught Yami's look. A reassuring smile and a small bow of his head was all the encouraging he needed to begin. Yugi took a deep breath. "I… Honestly, this is quite a surprising gathering but with everybody here maybe we could clear some things up."

Kaiba snorted. "Clearing things up? Yugi I hope this is not going to turn into some sort of confession."

Yugi smiled lightly. "Ah, maybe, but if so it's not going to be my confession, No I was thinking more about the past. Because as Yami believes, and I'm slowly starting to agree with, you can, if you look back, see things as they were and not as they appeared to be." Kaiba didn't say anything, just looked at him, and Yugi nodded. "I'm sorry, but, we talked about your stepfather's suicide before…"

Kaiba leaned back. "Ah, That's what it is about? So, go on, what do you think about that whole mess?" His spoke harsher than usual, sounding downright angry. That in itself was not that surprising for Kaiba, but this time it seemed almost real, and when he looked at Yugi he was sure he saw something burning behind this ire. But it was gone as quickly as it came. Kaiba's graze travelled from one end of the table to another, but interestingly he avoided looking at Joey, sitting directly opposite of him. "Did I drive my adoptive father to suicide or was it the weeping lady with her silver ewer?"

A small crash, nearly as stinging as his words, followed them, and Yugi turned to see that the coffee cup at the table near Aileen's elbow had shattered on the floor. Yugi waved aside her apology, feeling at the same time strangely elated. He felt that they were getting nearer and nearer to the truth; he just had no idea what that would look like.

When he turned back to Kaiba again, his gaze was serious. "I don't think that you drove your adoptive father to suicide. And you should know that I never would accuse anyone of that."

Seto laughed. "Then that's incredible stupid of you. After all he pointed that out himself quite nicely." Silence followed his words, with everyone's attention turning towards Kaiba.

It was Joey who first found his voice. "The hell?"

Kaiba was still not looking directly at him when he spoke. "If you were confused about the reason for his suicide, rest assured, he left a note. A document hidden underneath his other work papers. I destroyed it." Seeing the horrified looks of everyone around him he added, "My family's business is my own, thank you. I don't need the papers dragging all of this through the mud again. I can fight my own battles but" – he hesitated shortly – "there is somebody else involved." With his face set, and the strained look in his eyes, it was clear that this was not a topic he would discuss. At all. Given what Yugi knew about Kaiba he had a very good idea about whom he was talking. There was only one person Kaiba would ever bother to protect, would do anything and everything for. He just wasn't sure what part Mokuba had played in the tragedy.

Assured that the topic was closed, Kaiba leaned back in his chair. "So, why exactly are we sitting around this picture then? Are you trying to arrange a séance with it or what?"

Yugi looked at it again, at the picture that had brought all – or nearly all – of them here tonight. "Not directly." He could hear Kaiba's snort, but then again he had a lot of practice in ignoring that. "But it did kind of work like that, now that you say it. It 'brought us all here,' after all."

Pegasus leaned his head on his hand, an amused smile on his lips. "The uncanny influence of the oak parlour drawing everybody in, you mean?"

But Yugi shook his head fast. "No, no, not the oak parlour. The terrace room!" He probably sounded more excited than what was to be expected for such a minor sentence, but he finally had the feeling that a puzzle piece which had been irritatingly left in the wrong place was suddenly turned around and placed in the right position. "The dead man is standing outside the window of the terrace room, and seeing his own dead body on the floor."

Pegasus nodded. "Which he couldn't have done. The body was in the oak parlour."

Yugi looked up, his voice slightly shaking. "And what if it wasn't? If it was exactly where Joey saw it imaginatively, on the black and white flags in front of the window?" He knew how mad, how unlikely, it sounded. But there was something wrong with this, with how the case was presented and this, this felt right. He caught Yami's gaze next to him, a proud smile and small nod of the head, the only encouragement he needed to know that he was on the right track.

Kaiba looked at him. "You are talking nonsense. Supposing it was there, how could it be found in the oak parlour? Did he get up again and walk?"

Yugi shook his head. "Somebody carried him."

Again Kaiba laughed. "Interesting theory. There is how ever still the problem that people saw him enter the oak parlour. Alone."

Yugi nodded, his thoughts turning over themselves in his head. "But, did anyone see his face? I mean, the only thing anybody saw, most likely, was a man in fancy clothing."

Pegasus turned his head thoughtfully. "True, nothing but brocade things and a wig."

Yugi's eyes widened, he could almost see the scenery now. "And everybody assumed it was Gozaburo Kaiba." He was sure, so sure he saw Kaiba flinch slightly out of the corner of his eye when he spoke the name, but when he looked in his direction he saw just the same, impassive, doubtful façade Kaiba always wore.

But Joey turned his head nearly at the same time, and different from Yugi he didn't turn away again. "Was because somebody, the girl, called out to him using this name."

Pegasus raised an eyebrow. "And because when we broke in a few minutes later, there was only his corpse on the floor." He took a sip off his wine. "You can't get around that one, Yugi boy."

Yugi almost deflated in his seat. "No, that's right." And he had been so sure he was on the right track. There had to be something. He perked up a bit again. "But if there was a hiding place of some kind…"

Joey finally turned his head away from Kaiba to face Pegasus. "Wait, you did mention some kind of priests hiding place or something!"

"Oh" Yugi cried out, eyes widening. "That's… I think I know how it could be done." He took a quick breath, before he started to speak again, hesitatingly, as if feeling his way around in the past. "It's just an idea but let's suppose somebody shot Gozaburo Kaiba in the terrace room. And then that Person, and somebody else, dragged the body into the oak parlour. They laid it down with the pistol by the right hand. Then they would need to make sure everybody believes it was suicide …. But that could be easy. A man just needed to wear the same brocade and wig, and go down the hall to the oak parlour and someone else call out to him as Gozaburo Kaiba, making sure everybody would believe the masquerade. Then he only had to lock the doors and to fire a shot into the woodwork. Pegasus mentioned that there were a lot of bullet holes in the wall already, one more wouldn't really be noticeable. And afterwards he hid in the secret chamber. When the doors were broken open and people rushed in, it seemed so certain that there had been a suicide. Nobody would think of any other solution."

Pegasus clapped slowly. "Remarkable. But you forget that there was a motive for suicide. One that Kaiba kindly confirmed just now."

Yugi nodded. "True, but that letter was found afterwards. Written on a computer, most likely. Anybody could fake that."

Kaiba looked up his eyes glinting sharply. "True, and I can think of some people who actually would have an interest in my adoptive father's death. However that would also include myself."

Yugi shrugged. "But you got control of the company before the suicide. That's easily checked. No reason for you to kill him. But somebody else, who had a shot at getting it when he died…" He looked at Kaiba, sitting very straight, eyes unreadable. "And you know exactly who."

Kaiba shrugged. "Maybe."

Yugi nodded. Good if Kaiba didn't want to talk... "How did you get the documents anyway? Were they just lying around on your adoptive father's desk or…"

Kaiba smiled coldly. "They were too important for that. No the documents were delivered by an assistant of Johnson´s, the company's legal adviser. That was what convinced me that the suicide was planned for some time."

Yugi took a deep breath. "And the assistant? Do you know who it was?" Again there was piece of the puzzle, right there. And he knew Kaiba was listening, was believing what he said. But he also required proof.

Kaiba looked him straight in the eye. "A girl by the name of Monica Ford or something like that." Yugi turned to Pegasus. "Can you remember? Was it Monica Ford who called Gozaburo Kaiba's name on the staircase?" His heart was beating ridiculously fast now, but he had to know. If Pegasus could remember, if he knew who she was – a layers assistant, that's what he had said before – that would be at least part of his proof.

Pegasus took a moment to think, staring into nothing. Then, slowly, he nodded. "Yes, I do believe it was her. Strange, she always seemed to be so shy and trying to stay hidden."

Yugi, turning his head, nodded. "I can imagine that, but" – he looked across the room at Aileen Rao – "I think she had in her the makings of a remarkable actress."

Joey interrupted his thoughts. "Great theory, Yugi, but you forgot one thing: the blood on the floor. You couldn't clean up the terrace room that fast. Bound to be a lot of it. There would have been some traces."

Deep in Yugi's mind something started to ring, a small memory, Pegasus wondering about the carpet… "No, but they could have thrown the Bokhara Rug, or whatever it's called, over the blood-stains. Pegasus did mention that it didn't belong in the terrace room at all."

Pegasus nodded again. "Oh I did. But nevertheless, somebody still had to clean the blood-stains away at some point, didn't they?"

Yugi's gaze wandered off into the distance. Ghost stories, it was all just ghost stories again. "Oh yes, but if they did it in the middle of the night a woman would only need a jug and a basin and could go down the stairs to clear the blood stains easily."

Kaiba snorted. "That would require quite a gamble, hoping nobody would see her."

Yugi looked at him and smiled. "No, no it wouldn't. I said a woman with a jug and a basin, which was my mistake. What somebody would have seen that night would have been a weeping lady with a silver ewer and they wouldn't have bothered the ghost that always turned up after somebody dies in the house."

Pegasus breathed out. "Just like Arkana…" His voice was barely visible, his eyes wide.

Yugi nodded before, he turned around and looked straight at Aileen Rao. "That was you, wasn't it? According to a friend of mine you are called the woman with the scarf, and that was the night you played your first part. That's why you knocked over the coffee cup, why you wanted that picture… You were afraid. You thought somebody knew."

Kaiba looked at her, probably the first time he really payed her any attention. "Ah yes, now I recognise you, Monica."

But before he could say anything, before that cold rage that was burning behind his blue eyes could break free, Aileen rose with a cry. With a shove of her hand, she pushed a surprised Yugi aside, without sparing him any glance, to stop directly in front of Yami, who looked up her with a look of amused confusion on his face. "And I was right, wasn't I? Somebody did know. Oh spare me all of your acting and pretending to work things out." She pointed at Yami. "You were there. You were there outside the window looking in, watching the six of us. I knew there was somebody looking on, I felt them. But when I looked up, there was nobody there. A glimpse, at one point of a face in the window, that was all I could catch. It frightened me all these years. So why?" She looked at Yami with anger burning in her eyes, her breath heaving strongly. "Why did you break your silence now? Years after it happened?"

Yami looked at the angry woman in front of him, the traces of humour slowly leaving his face. When he answered it was completely serious. "Maybe because somebody was quite unhappy with how his end came about with an unsuccessful and shady job."

For a moment she looked at him, then Aileen threw herself around and rushed to the door. There she stopped again, flinging a few defiant words over her shoulders. "Do what you like. God knows you have witnessed enough to recounted exactly what I said. I don't care. It was a business deal, one that helped me immensely, and the Big Five died last year. You can set the police on my tracks, if you dare, but as that little child there said I am a pretty good actress. They can try to find me, if they want." She crashed the door behind her and a moment later the front door slammed shut also.

Kaiba took a deep breath, his shoulders sagging slightly downwards, before he looked up, a sardonic smile on his face. "What a drama queen. Let's see if she is actually as good at running as she claims to be." There was cruel delight in his smile, something Yugi really didn't want to think about too closely. But in his eyes there was relieved look, almost something like an honest light.

Yugi turned his head to look, quite annoyed at the door. "Did she just call me child?" Come on, he had grown up over the past couple of years! He wasn't that short anymore! Even if that was still something of a sore spot for him.

Joey shot him a sympathetic look. "Sorry man, but I think she really was just trying to get a good hit in. Striking out when she was trapped." His smile vanished a bit when he turned towards Kaiba. "So, before you get on your revenge quest, can I now ask what actually was in that fake letter, or am I getting my head bitten off for that?"

The look Kaiba shot him now really looked like he was actually considering biting Joey's head off. "I don't see who this is any of your business but since you probably won't shut up till you know…" He took a short breath, not looking at Joey, but at the wall behind him. "When I took over the corporation, it was Mokuba who gave me the last shares I needed. He had just two, but it was enough for a majority. He did that in front of Gozaburo and the Big Five, and the letter insinuated that this, what it called a betrayal, was the final reason." He stood up and walked towards the door, before stopping and, not looking at anyone, finishing with a seemingly careless shrug. "I didn't think my little brother should have to shoulder the blame for my father's own bad decision." With this he walked out of the room, leaving a thoughtful silence behind.

With a small smile Pegasus got up too. "And he complains about other people being drama queens." He sighed. "Well, Yugi-boy, that was delightful evening. What a nice surprise."

After he said his goodbyes, Yugi excused himself from Yami, to accompany Joey to the door. His friend hadn't spoken since Kaiba left. On the door he stopped. "So he could care about somebody else…" With a shake of his head he looked at the door. "Pity he is such an asshole though."

Yugi laughed. "An asshole who likes a fight. Maybe you two should meet more often." It was a strange thought maybe, but who was he to talk. If they didn't kill each other first, that might just work out.

Joey looked at him, and shook his head "Oh yes, as if such a posh bastard would ever be interested in talking to a street mutt." There was humour in his voice, but not in his eyes.

Yugi shook his head. "That's not true. You are more than that, you know this. And if Kaiba has a problem with your past than, frankly, that's his loss. But I don't think he would."

Joey looked at him for a moment, before he laughed. "Ok, thank you Yugi. And what about you?"

Yugi blinked at him surprised, while Joey, suddenly completely serious, went on. "I mean." He turned his head towards the door, back to the living room, where Yami hopefully was still waiting. "You two…do you know what you are getting into? What you are doing?"

Yugi followed his gaze, and sighed. Good question. On some days he wasn't so sure, but… "I know I want to try." He turned and looked back at Joey. "He wouldn't hurt me, I know that." Nothing Yami did had ever pointed in that direction. "If it can work out… I don't know, but well you never know that unless you try."

Joey held his gaze for a moment, before he nodded. "Okay. Just, if you get in trouble, or if anything happens…you'll tell me ok?"

Yugi smiled. "Of course!"

When he stepped back into the living room, the talk with Joey was still fresh in his mind. _I want to try…_

Yami looked up from where he was sitting, mercifully not deciding to disappear into nothing as usual. But his next words did crash Yugi's mood a bit. "I probably should go now."

He didn't sound so sure, but he did stand up slowly, before he looked at Yugi with a smile. "And I did tell you you do all the work. You solved this completely on your own." There was pride in his voice, but Yugi's throat still felt oddly constricted.

"You…you don't have to go." Yami, nearly at the door stopped, and turned halfway around to Yugi. The light falling through the half opened door again made it look like he was wearing a mask. "I mean, you could stay. For the night…" Ok, Yugi's face was definitely burning now, everything was fine, but he still managed somehow to look Yami in the eye, who answered his gaze with an unreadable look.

"Are you sure?" His velvet voice was soft, almost gentle when he spoke. "I don't generally sleep." If he wanted to say anything more he didn't get the chance, because Yugi interrupted him.

"Sleeping wasn't what I had in mind anyway!" He shut his mouth hastily, face burning, barely believing what he had said, while Yami started to laugh.

It was a rich surprised sound, sending a shiver down Yugi's spine. "Oh I see…" He was practically purring at this point. "How could I say now to such an offer?" A sparkle of amusement shone in his eyes, and Yugi, while still kind of hoping for the floor to swallow him up, couldn't help but smile back.

"Ok good…good, but we don't have to, I mean – ok, not that I would have anything against that, but I just wanted to spend more time with you. For once. And there is a game I wanted to show you." God that sounded pathetic.

Yami took a step towards him, taking Yugi's hand gently in his own. "I know. It's still a tempting offer." His smile turned a bit gentler a she looked at Yugi. "But yes, if you could spare a few moments, I would like to see which game you have in mind."

Yugi looked up towards him, nodding hastily, a big smile on his face. "Ok!"

Later, when morning slowly started to dawn and a long night of games and talking came to its end – a night in which Yugi, for the first time in many years actually found his match in games, and lost a couple of times, a night filled with laughter – Yugi half asleep himself threw a last glance towards Yami. Early morning light was shimmering over his skin, letting it shine like dark bronze. His face, for the first time since Yugi met him, was relaxed, without anything holding it back. It almost looked innocent in its loveliness, the sharp angles contrasting with the soft breathing. Yugi smiled, barely believing that this moment was real, before he closed his own eyes, shutting out the dawn and the Duel Monster cards still strewn around the table, and snuggled up a bit more on the couch. Yami's arm was wrapped around him, and his shoulder under his head.

So much for "I don't sleep."


	6. Harlequin's Lane

**Harlequin's Lane**

It was not the first time Yugi wondered just why he still accompanied his grandfather when the old man visited the Denmans. To be entirely honest he didn't even knew why his grandfather visited them occasionally. It wasn't that the old man didn't like them, or that Yugi didn't like them, but most of the time he just sat there and had no idea what exactly to talk about. His grandfather would make conversation in the same polite way as their hosts, but in the end neither had much to say to each other. Their interests were just too different. Admittedly, few would share Yugi's passion and excitement for games, but talking about history, like his grandfather liked to do, about books, maybe even a movie – about anything really – always seemed to end up nowhere.

And to be honest, Shada Denman made him always feel a bit uneasy. His face never seemed to move; there never was any emotion in the way he talked or acted. One of Kaiba's computer programs could probably convey more, and especially more sincere, feelings than him. He was a business man, well respected, well established, but his friends were not Yugi's friends or the ones of his grandfather, and while he was clever in his own way and line, it always seemed as if he was unable to see things from a different perspective, to understand where another person was coming from.

Sitting in the Denmans' living room, Yugi again had to ask himself what he was doing here and why his grandfather came here. Truthfully, the second question was probably the answer for the first. He had always wanted to understand why his grandfather came here, what drew him back again to people with whom he shared a polite conversation but nothing more. He had asked the old man once, and Solomon's answer, as vague and preposterous as it had been, had kindled his own fascination with the Denmans. What drew Solomon Muto here was a single sitting room in the house belonging to Mrs. Kisara Denman.

It wasn't like the room was a reflection of her personality, because Yugi was still hard pressed to stake exactly what her personality was. She was fascinating in her looks, long white hair paired with an unusually pale skin and bright blue eyes, a strange combination which looked oddly striking. But other than that, there was nothing. Or at least nothing visible. Because she smiled, she talked, she was nice – but what exactly she thought about anything was a well-hidden secret, guarded by a smile that wouldn't have looked out of place on a sphinx. She was Russian by birth, Yugi remembered vaguely. Shada had been in Russia when the European war had broken out, and playing a part in the war about which he still didn't talk, he had narrowly escaped with his life when the revolution begun, and had brought this Russian girl, a penniless refuge, with him to marry her against the strong disapproval of his parents.

The room itself was in no way remarkable. Solidly furnished with good Hepplewhite furniture it wouldn't have looked out of place in any English middle class home, but there was one thing which stood out: a Chinese lacquer screen, a thing of creamy yellow and pale rose. Any museum might have given a fortune to own it; it was a collectors piece, raw and beautiful…and completely out of place in that typically English room.

This was what drew his grandfather here, and which had subsequently captured Yugi's interest as well. Solomon had explained that this piece should have been the key piece in a room, where everything was arranged to subtly harmonize with it. It was possible the Denmans, for everything else that seemed a bit dull about them, could not be accused of having bad taste, since the remainder of their furniture was arranged in a perfect accord. But this piece didn't fit in, and maybe it was the same thing as with a puzzle piece placed wrong. It itched at the back of Yugi's mind, something he couldn't quite forget.

And so he sat there in the sitting room at Ashmead, the Denmans' house, occupying five acres of Melton Heath, thirty miles away from London, and waited both for his grandfather and his hosts to arrive. For the Denmans were at some kind of rehearsal, and somehow Yugi's grandfather had agreed to help out with that. The old man had never been able to resist a show.

But that meant that Yugi was left to make himself at home till everybody came back, and after a while boredom drove him out of the house and into the garden. He spared the flower beds no more than a cursory glance, before he strolled down a shady walk and happened upon a door in the wall. It was unlocked, and after a short moment of hesitation, Yugi passed through it to find himself in a narrow lane.

It was very charming, shady and green, surrounded by high hedges twisting and turning in a very old-fashioned way. Yugi liked it, but at the same time the utter loneliness of this place made him shiver a bit. He remembered the address of the house, stamped on the card which had shown him the way the first time, Ashmead, Harlequin's Lane, something that, as Kisara had once told him, was a local name for this street.

Harlequin's Lane… The name turned over in his head. A hidden and charming road, with a touch of melancholy and sadness about it. For a moment it seemed so familiar that his throat suddenly constricted.

Yami… Everything about this place seemed to scream his name. Maybe it was just a fanciful imagining but he hadn't see the strange man for awhile, not since the night they had passed with games; since Yami, waking up slowly, and so strangely surprised that he should have slept, had said his goodbyes in the morning. It wasn't that long ago, but still, maybe this place…

Yugi turned around the corner, and a big smile bloomed on his face. It wasn't until many hours later, after the events building over the house like dark clouds had already come to pass, that he would wonder why he was so sure that Yami would be there, why he had felt absolutely no surprise at the sight of him standing in the middle of the path.

Yami seemed to be surprised, at least a bit, and while he greeted Yugi with a smile and a delight which seemed a hundred percent real, Yugi could have sworn that his elusive friend – maybe more, eh still wasn't able to find the right word for what Yami was, something all compassing, unnameable – almost looked concerned, nearly worried for a moment. But that impression was gone in the next second.

"So you are down here." Yugi's smile could have lit up the street, and Yami answered with a small laugh.

"Oh yes. I'm staying in the same house as you do."

Yugi blinked. Maybe he should have wondered why Yami looked surprised to see him, if he clearly knew where he stayed, why he would know where Yugi stayed, but at that moment, something else seemed much more confusing. "Staying here?"

Yami glanced down towards him with a smile. "Oh yes. Is that such a surprise."

Yugi hesitated for a moment. "No, not directly. But you never stay anywhere for long, do you?" He still remembered Yami's hesitation about only staying a night.

The strange man shook his head. "Only as long as necessary." There it was again, that small, almost sad smile before Yami inclined his head towards Yugi, and the smile turned much more teasing, much happier. "With a few exceptions."

Yugi laughed.

They walked down the lane, passing the time in comfortable silence. Then Yugi began to speak. "This lane…" He broke off, unable to phrase, what exactly he saw when he looked at it, but Yami seemed to understand, when he continued where Yugi left off.

"Belongs to me." There was neither pride nor gloating in his voice; he spoke as if he was simply stating an unshakable truth, like saying that the sky was blue or that water was wet.

Yugi nodded. "I thought so." The words were out before he could clearly think about them. "Somehow I thought it must be so." He shot Yami a short side wards glance. "Kisara, she told me that there is another, local name for it. Lovers Lane they call it. Did you know that?"

A second passed, before Yami nodded. "But surely, there is a lover's lane in every village." He spoke gently, almost encouragingly, but Yugi turned his head away.

"Yes, I suppose so." He couldn't even say why he suddenly felt so dejected, so strangely wrong, nothing more than a young man, still childishly obsessed with games, left behind by the time moving on. On each side of him the hedges looked so very green and alive, and Yugi, not for the first time, asked himself what he was doing here, what he was hoping to achieve. Yes, the last night with Yami had been great, more fun than he could ever imagine, but did he really think he stood even the ghost of a chance in this game? He didn't notice how Yami suddenly looked at him with a mixture of confusion and concern at his sudden silence.

"Where does this lane end?" It was an odd question, but it was exactly what was on his mind. Where did this lane end? Where would any of this, which could never work out as he wanted, as hoped, actually end?

Yami looked at him again for a long, searching moment. When he answered, it was with visible hesitation. "I can show you…if you really want to know."

Yugi nodded, deaf from the unease, the warning in Yami's tone.

His friend nodded. "Very well. It ends – here."

They turned around the last bend and saw the end of the lane, leading towards a piece of waste ground. Almost at their feet a great pit opened. Tin cans gleamed in the sun, others, too red with rust, intermingling with them; old boots; fragments of newspapers; a hundred and one odds and ends which were no longer of any account or use to anyone, all lay strewn around before them.

"A rubbish heap!" Yugi breathed out indignantly, even if he almost laughed. Oh god, that was fitting answer for his mood indeed.

Yami, still looking at the rubbish heap, without meeting Yugi's eyes spoke softly. "Sometimes there are very wonderful things in a rubbish heap." It sounded so gentle, as if he actually had some fondness for the worthless things spread before his feet that Yugi looked at him surprised. But Yami's gaze was going off into the distance and it almost seemed as if he had spoken to himself. Then, after a moment of silence, Yugi slowly nodded.

"Yes, I remember. I think my grandfather told me the story once," he quoted, with not much sureness. "Bring me the two most beautiful things in the city, said God, or something like that. I always thought that this was such a sad story."

Yami didn't answer, but his eyes regained their focus, and with a thoughtful nod he watched how Yugi's attention turned away from the rubbish heap to the ruins of a small cottage perched on the brink of the wall of the cliff overlooking the heap.

"Wonderful view for a house," Yugi joked, mostly to keep his own thoughts under control, to chase away the fear and sudden doubts haunting him, but Yami, following his gaze, replied in all seriousness.

"I don't think there was rubbish heap there back in the day. The Denmans lived here, back when they were first married. They only moved into the big house when Shada's parents died. Afterwards the cottage was pulled down when they began to quarry the rock here, but there was never that much done, as you can see."

Silence settled over them. When they turned around to retrace their steps, both of them caught up in their own thoughts. Yugi's gaze wandered again over the hedges and the small path before them. "There are probably many couples who come wandering down this lane on warm summer evenings I suppose." It was the perfect place for it really. And suddenly, with the realisation that even if he tried, that he might – no, _must_ – lose this particular game, this dance, the thought suddenly felt both beautifully and achingly sad.

Yami followed his gaze, a small smile crinkling around his eyes. "Probably." Yugi barely heard him, his mind wandering back over the last couple of month.

"Lovers…" He hadn't noticed at first, but now standing on this path, next to Yami, even with his own heavy heart it seemed so logical. "You have done a lot for lovers." His path, Lovers Lane… Yami just inclined his head without answering, while Yugi continued. "You saved them from sorrow, or worse, from death." Ryou and Malik: he had gotten a letter from Ryou, just a few days ago. His friend had sounded so happy still. "You have been and advocated for the dead themselves."

Yami laughed, as Yugi quoted his own words. "Maybe, but are you sure you are not speaking about yourself? You have done most of what you say, not me."

Yugi shook his head quickly. "Oh, yes, but in the end you don't think I wouldn't notice? That you act by sending me in? For some reason you don't act directly yourself." It was not meant to be accusatory, but Yami was silent for a moment, looking away from Yugi.

"Sometimes I do." His voice was quiet, holding a new note. Despite the relatively warm day, Yugi shivered a bit. Maybe the afternoon was turning chilly, but yet the sun seemed to shine as bright as ever. Before he could answer Yami, trying to find the right words to question this statement heard light steps on the path. Before they could react somebody turned around the corner ahead of them. A young girl, fairly pretty, fair-haired and blue-eyed, wearing a pink summer dress. Yugi faintly recognised her as Molly Stanwell, whom he had met at the Denmans' before.

She waved her hand happily to welcome him. "Shada and Kisara just returned with your grandfather. They were sorry to miss you, but they had to be at the rehearsal."

Yugi smiled at her in greeting before he voiced the other question which had occupied his mind all morning. "It's fine. But, rehearsal of what, exactly?"

Molly made a vague gesture with her hand. "A masquerade thing. I'm not sure what you would call it. There is singing and dancing and all sorts of things mixed together. Mr. Crowler, you remember him? He got dragged into playing Pierrot, and I'm Pierrette. Two professionals will do the dancing, the two main roles, Harlequin and Colombine. And then there'll be a big chorus of girls. Lady Camula is so keen on training the village girls to sing. She is really getting them hyped for this performance And the music is quite lovely, even if it is rather modern." She shook her head. "There is barely a tune to be found in it. Maybe you know the composer? Alister something?"

Yugi did know the name, because he had heard it from his grandfather in passing, mainly concerned with what he now recognised were exactly those rehearsals. But music had never been his strong suit. Maybe Téa would know: dancing was her life and her work after all. And about the others Molly had mentioned, Crowler and Lady Camula he knew even less. He had met them around here, he remembered, but those had always been short meetings.

When they returned they found Alister at tea with the Denmans, making conversation which barely hid his boredom. Yugi couldn't really blame him, for the conversation did seem to be in quite a stop at the moment. Shada, sitting upright, blue eyes sharp and unreadable, followed the talk with his usual air of slight boredom. It was always hard to judge what he thought about anything for he always seemed to be distant and cold, like a statue carved out of stone. Behind his back, Alister shot Yugi a short glance before rolling his eyes, while Kisara sat behind her husband, drinking tea with a small smile on her face, which completely hid her thoughts.

They were an odd pair, the two of them, so similar in some regards, and yet utterly different. For while Shada radiated coldness and uncaring, Kisara always seemed to be warm and gentle, giving the impression of being ready to listen to whatever one wanted to talk about. Yugi glanced over to her. Tall, so very thin, skin so white as to be frightening, hair the same colour and striking blue eyes; she looked like a living porcelain doll of a woman, lifeless and yet – and yet he couldn't help the feeling that there was life in her, that whatever lay beyond those blue eyes was nothing like the face she presented to the world.

His grandfather, sitting next to her, smiled over at him. "Ah, Yugi. Please sit down. We were just talking about Russia."

Alister looked over to him, while Yugi sat down next to him. "Russian dancing," he corrected, not quite sharply but there was a slight edge to his voice. "There isn't quite anything like it." He turned towards his hostess, clearly remembering her background. "What did you think about the Russian ballet? It's magnificent, isn't it?"

Kisara just shrugged. "I've never seen it." Her answer was so sudden, so unexpected, that it completely threw Alister out of his boredom. He sat up, gazing upon his hostess as if she were mad. "What? But surely…"

Her voice went on, level and emotionless. She barely even looked into his direction. "I was a dancer before my marriage. So now…" Her husband interrupted her. " A busman's holiday."

She nodded slightly. "Dancing." Shaking her head she continued almost disparagingly, "I know all the tricks of it. It does not interest me."

Yugi looked at her, drinking her tea without sparing a single thought to the shock her announcement had caused, and for a moment he did not see her but Téa. For Téa, dancing was as much a passion as it was work. He tried for a moment to imagine her talking so coldly about it, simply because she knew how it was done, and couldn't imagine it. But people were different after all, and if his hostess' reaction seemed strange to him, it was really not his business.

A sudden exclamation from the composter tore him away from his thoughts. "Ah yes, Kharsanova. The immortal, the only Kharsanova!" He turned to Yugi's grandfather, who had obviously caused this outbreak, by mentioning something or other.

" You saw her dance?" Alister's eyes, sparkled, and he looked as excited as a child in a candy shop.

Yugi's grandfather nodded slowly. "Three times. Twice in Paris, once in London. I…" He closed his eyes for a moment, pausing as if he was chasing the memories of something that happened long ago. "I shall not forget it." His voice was heavy with memories. He sounded almost reverently. Looking at this reaction from the old man, Yugi could barely start to imagine what he must have seen. How would this dance have looked? How good must this dancer have been to cause such a reaction? Téa would probably kill for anyone to speak about her like that.

Alister nodded slowly. "I saw her too, before everything went to hell. I was ten years old, taken there by an uncle. No, this is not something you ever forget."

Solomon nodded. "There is a statuette of her in a museum in Berlin. It's marvellous. That impression of fragility, as though a flick of a thumbnail would be enough to break her. I saw her as Columbine, the swan, the dying nymph…" He shook his head. "Such a genius. There will be many years till another such as her is born. And she was so young." Now there was real pain in his voice, a pity for a life ended prematurely. "Destroyed wantonly and ignorantly in the first days of the revolution."

Alister nodded his face drawn in anger. "Monsters, all of them." He caught Yugi's gaze, and smiled a bitter, dark smile. "I lost my family in that revolution. There is nothing good I could say about them." The anger burned so clearly in his eyes that Yugi could barely react.

It was Kisara who interrupted, again speaking almost carelessly. "I studied with Kharsanova. I remember her well."

Yugi looked over to her curiously. "And? Was she so wonderful?"

His hostess smiled, a small almost hidden gesture, laughing about a silent joke nobody could even come close to understanding. "Yes. She was wonderful."

Alister left shortly afterwards, and as if that had been a sign, Kisara rose to invite them all up to her sitting room, the very one Yugi had been waiting in earlier, claiming that now, with the early evening drawing on, it was much more pleasant there. Yugi entered and as so many times before his eyes immediately rested on the Chinese screen.

Kisara caught his gaze, her smile brightening as she also saw his grandfather looking at the same screen. "Well?" There was a hint of amusement in her voice. "My screen seemed to have garnered a lot of interest. What do you make of it?"

Yugi shared a quick, slightly panicked look with his grandfather, during which the old man gestured for him to speak. Slightly irritated he turned towards his hostess, catching Yami's eyes from behind her. His mysterious friend hadn't spoken at all during the whole exchange downstairs, simply sitting there and watching the people around him. Now his eyes caught Yugi's and he smiled, as if he himself was curious as to what Yugi would say. Yugi gulped, and looked back at his expectantly waiting hostess. "It's…beautiful. More than that, unique." He nearly bit on his own tongue. Beautiful? Unique? Couldn't he come up with something better?

But at the same time Shada, having come up after him, spoke which nearly got Yugi to jump out of his skin. Damn it, did that man have to move so silently? "You are right. We bought it early in our married life. Got it for a tenth of its value but even so it crippled us for over a year." All that spoken in the same monotone voice. He turned towards his wife. "You remember, Kisara?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes. I remember."

He continued on. "We had no business to buy it at all. Not then. Now, it's different. There was some very good lacquer going at Christie's the other day. It would have made this room perfect, all Chinese together, just the right time to clear out all of that other stuff." He turned towards Yugi's grandfather, barely raising an eyebrow. "Would you believe it, that my wife was dead set against it?"

"I like this room as it is." Kisara spoke kindly, but there was a curious look on her face. Yugi felt again like a challenge had been issued, and he had come up empty handed. Not quite comfortable with that, he turned his head trying to take in the room completely in, to not only focus on the screen. And for the first time he noted the absence of any personal touch in it. No photographs, no flowers, not even a hint of personal knickknacks lying around. It didn't look like somebody lived here at all. Without the Chinese screen he would have thought he was standing in a show room at a big furnishing house.

He looked up, to find his hostess smiling at him again.

"Listen." She bent forward with a smile, and for a moment, what seemed English and normal about her seemed to be stripped away, making her look more foreign and strange. "I think you and your grandfather" – she nodded at Solomon – "you could understand that. When we bought that screen it was with more than money. It was with love. Because we loved it, because it was beautiful and unique, we went without other things, things needed and missed. The other Chinese pieces my husband was so set on, those would have been bought only with money, not with anything from ourselves in it."

Yugi could understand that, could begin to see where she was coming from. Emotional value, memories tied to it…just like his grandfather's shop, the house they lived in, even his cards, all were worth more than their quick, monetary value. Those heirlooms had a piece of themselves in them; of the people who lived there, and loved the house, those cards.

But Shada just shrugged. "If you say so." There was a fine trace of emotion, of irritation, in his voice. "But among this English background it seems all wrong. It's good stuff on its own, all those other things, solid, nothing fake about it…but it's mediocre. Just good plain late Hepplewhite."

His wife nodded. "Good solid genuine English." Her voice was barely above a soft muttering.

Yugi looked at her; there was some kind of meaning to her words, just barely out of his grasp. The English room and the burning beauty of the Chinese screen. But it was gone before he could catch it.

He shook his head trying to change the topic to get it back on safer ground. "We" – he gestured with his head towards Yami, standing, and still watching, like a shadow on the wall – "met Molly in the lane. She told us she is going to be Pierrette in the show tonight."

Shada nodded. "Oh yes. And she is awfully good."

His wife looked at him. "She has clumsy feet."

Shada snorted. "Nonsense." There it was again, that small spark of irritation, of anger, which seemed so out of place on his frighteningly immovable face. "They are all the same, aren't they not? Women, I mean." He looked over at Yugi, at his grandfather, at Yami, as if he expected them to agree with him. "Can't bear how another woman is praised. Molly is a very good-looking girl, so of course every other woman has to have her knife in her."

Yugi opened his mouth, unsure if he had heard correctly, if Shada had truly said what he thought he had heard, but before that, Kisara already answered her husband.

"I spoke of dancing," She didn't sound angry, merely faintly surprised. "She is very pretty, yes, but her feet move clumsily. You can't tell me anything else. I know about dancing, remember?" That last sentence was spoken with faint amusement, as if the whole argument was just a joke to her, nothing important.

But Yugi's grandfather took one look at both ether faces, and interfered quickly and tactfully. "There are two professional dancers coming down here. Can you imagine I helped overlook the rehearsals and yet I haven't seen them at all?" He smiled as he winked at Yugi, and Shada answered him shortly. "Of course. Akefia is bringing them down today in his car."

"Akefia?" The question came from Kisara. There was a strange tone in her voice and her husband turned towards her almost immediately.

"You know him?"

She shook her head, not really a negative gesture, more like chasing a thought, a long hidden memory. "I used to know him, back in Russia." Yugi couldn't help but notice that, behind his impassive façade, Shada was beginning to look very disturbed.

"He will know you?" A strange way to phrase a question, but Kisara smiled.

"Yes. He will know me." She laughed a low, almost triumphant sound. Nothing about the porcelain doll remained in her face or posture now. Then she caught her husband's look, and nodded reassuringly. "Akefia. So he is bringing down the two dancers. Well, he always had a slight interest in dancing. And in dramatics." She laughed softly at her own private joke.

Her husband's face seemed to be carved out of stone, even more than usual. "I remember." Shada spoke abruptly, then turned to leave the room. Yugi's grandfather and Yami followed him, the latter's eyes still wandering across everyone he met. Kisara didn't follow them. She crossed to the telephone and asked for a number, arresting Yugi with a gesture just as he was about to follow the others.

"Can I speak to Lady Camula? Oh, it's you! This is Kisara Denman speaking. Has Akefia arrived yet?" A small pause, as she listened. "What? What? Oh god, how terrible." She listened for a few moments longer before she replaced the receiver and turned towards Yugi, a small frown on her face.

"There has been an accident. Of course, with Akefia driving. He really hasn't changed in all those years. The girl was not badly hurt, thank god, but bruised and too shaken to dance tonight. And the man's arm is broken." She shook her head. "Akefia is unhurt and fine. The devil does look after his own, after all."

Yugi's eyes widened. "And the performance tonight?" He was glad that nobody was seriously hurt, but he remembered how excited everybody had been about the show that night, how much work had been put into that. It would be a pity to have to cancel it.

Kisara nodded distractedly. "Yes. We will have to do something about it…" She trailed off, before suddenly shaking herself awake and looking at Yugi. "I'm sorry, I think I'm a bad hostess. I'm not entertaining you at all."

He shook his head with a small laugh. "Oh no, that's not necessary. You have bigger worries at the moment. But…" He hesitated, unsure if he should, if he could ask the question on his mind now that his hostess had such a big problem to solve. But he had wondered about how comfortable, how relaxedly normal Yami's presence in this house seemed to be. "Can I ask you something?"

She nodded. "Yes."

He took a deep breath. "How did you come across Yami? Mr. Sennen I mean."

She looked at him for a long moment before she slowly started to speak. "He is often down here. I think he owns land in this part of the world."

Yugi hastily nodded. "Yes, yes, he does. He told me that this afternoon." _This is my lane._ He could still hear Yami's voice in his head.

His hostess looked at him again. "He is." She hesitated, her eyes meeting Yugi's. "I do think you know better than I do what he is." _What not who._

Yugi blinked at her "I?" Maybe? He had known Yami for a while, but he wasn't sure anybody could truly know him.

"Is it not so?" Her voice so patient cut through his thoughts like a knife. There was something deep, something knowing, in her gaze, and Yugi nearly took a step back. That talk was starting to disturb him, as if she was pushing him further than he had dared to go till now; to put into words something he had suspected for a long time now, but had barely dared to say even in the safety of his own thoughts. "You know." She said, quietly, with a calm insistence. "I think you know most things."

Ok, whatever he knew or thought he knew, that was just a little bit too much. Yugi stared at her, a bit uncomfortable about the turn of the conversation. "Oh no, no. I don't know everything." He laughed a bit. "I don't think there is anyone who could claim that." Well, Kaiba would probably do that, and maybe even believe it, but apart from him…no.

Kisara looked at him thoughtfully for a moment before she nodded in agreement. "Yes maybe. Suppose I were to tell you something? Make you know a little bit more? But it's such a strange story…" She spoke in a brooding voice, lost in her own thoughts and yet clearly looking at him. "Maybe you would laugh." She shook her head. "No I don't think so. You are not the type to laugh at somebody else. Ok, supposing then that to carry on one's" – she paused, throwing a searching glance around – "one's trade, one's profession, one would use a fantasy – would pretend to oneself something or someone who did not exist.

"Imagine a certain person. It's a pretence of course, you understand, nothing more than make believe. But then…" She trailed off and Yugi, a feeling of dread growing in his mind, in his stomach with each word she said, slowly nodded.

"Yes?" he wasn't sure if he actually wanted to hear this story, not with the strange look in Kisara's eyes. But it seemed to be important, had to be important for her, for whatever reason she chose, to tell him.

So he would listen.

"It came true!" She spoke with a slight, astonished laugh, as if she still couldn't believe it. "The thing imagined, the impossible thing, the one that could not be… It was real! Isn't that what they call madness? Tell me, Yugi, is that madness, or would you believe in such a thing too?"

Yugi opened his mouth. "I…" He couldn't continue, didn't even know what he could say. The words seemed to stick somewhere in the back of his throat, his mind… He believed her, he believed in what she said, how could he not after all he had seen? And yet the way she spoke, that strange gleam in her eyes – pure ecstasy – left him shaken and grasping for words. The only thing left in his mind wasn't wonder, but an all-consuming terrible sense of dread. "I…"

But before he could try to say anything, Kisara already shook her head "Folly." She let out an irritated sigh. "Folly." With that she swept out of the room and left Yugi with the confession of his beliefs unspoken.

It took a while for him to collect himself, and when he went downstairs to join his grandfather and the rest of the house for dinner, he still hadn't been able to shake that strange fear completely from his mind. It was a relief to find Kisara entertaining a new guest, looking as normal and collected as ever. When she saw Yugi, she smiled, and gestured towards the man beside her, as if the scene upstairs had never happened. "Yugi Muto – Akefia. He prefers his first name."

The man next to her was just a little bit taller than Yugi, with dark skin and wild, white hair, which gave him a slight resemblance to Ryou. And old, angry scar went straight over his right eye, and continued down his cheek. The eye itself seemed just fine, unhurt by whatever had caused the wound; but together with the savage grin the man seemed to like to sport, it gave him an almost angry, dangerous look. Yugi greeted the new guest carefully, with the feeling that his entrance had interrupted a conversation which would not be resumed any time soon. Akefia did shoot him an annoyed look, but for all that his conversation wasn't strained. He seemed to take delight in shocking people, acting in the most impolite way possible just for his own amusement, yet while he made Yugi nervous, there wasn't any real malice in the way he spoke. However, Yugi had no doubt this man was well capable of that.

When Shada joined the room and the conversation, Akefia's smile turned a bit more angry, even when he had no problem of expressing regret for the accident in his own way. "Though that wasn't my fault. I drive fast yes, but I'm good at that. Blame it on fate, if you want." He grinned, and Kisara laughed.

"Now that's the Russian in you speaking, Akefia."

He looked over to her, the grin almost turning feral. "He always finds an echo in you, Kisara." Yugi gaze wandered from one to the other of the three of them. Here was Shada so, aloof and distant, and the other two, so strangely alike. There was something going on, and he couldn't help but wonder if that was the reason for Yami's appearance if this strange current under the conversation would lead to whatever made his visit necessary. Because if he was sure of one thing, then it was that Yami only appeared when there was drama, a tragic puzzle in the making. Was it this, this age old triangle in the making? It made him afraid, afraid for the people here. Those mysteries always ended in death and murder, or were tied to it. He might not have been that excited about meeting with Shada and Kisara, but they did not deserve such a fate. And neither did their new guest.

Shada turned towards his wife. "So what have you arranged? I suppose the whole thing will have to be put off. I heard how you phoned Lady Camula."

His wife shook her head. "No, there is no need to put it off." He looked at her with mild curiosity. "Without the ballet there won't be much a show." A dry smile danced across her lips. "Of course, you certainly couldn't have a harlequinade without Harlequin and Columbine. I'm going to be Columbine, Shada."

She spoke completely calm, but the effect of this sentence on her husband was astonishing. He flinched a bit, and there was a real disturbance in his eyes. "You?"

She nodded. "You don't need to be afraid; I won't disgrace you. You forget that used to be my profession." Again a small smile lay on her lips, and Yugi was left with the distinct impression that her voice left more things unsaid than that simple statement of fact would usually imply.

Shada didn't look very happy, but he finally sighed. "Well, that solves one half of the problem. However you are still missing a harlequin."

Now Kisara laughed, with a strange undertone that had Yugi on the edge immediately. "Oh I found him already." There was dark satisfaction her voice, as she pointed with her hand. "There!" Her eyes gleamed with the same light that had shown when she had spoken with Yugi alone earlier, and he had to gulp when he realised that she pointed straight at the open doorway. The doorway, which Yami just stepped through; he was smiling back at her.

Shada snorted. "Atem, really? You know something about this game?"

Yami inclined his head, but before he could answer Kisara already spoke. "He is vouched for by an expert. Yugi will answer for him." Completely unsure how he suddenly had landed in the role of an expert about a subject he had barely the faintest grasp on, and steamrolled by the events, Yugi could barely do more than nod and stutter.

"Oh yes, of course… I answer for him…" Unsure he trailed off, but it seemed to be enough for Shada. Or maybe the man just didn't want to bother anymore, as he turned his attention immediately elsewhere.

"I should warn you that there is to be a fancy dress business afterwards. Great nuisance. We will have to find something for you Yugi."

Under that critical stare Yugi nearly shrank into himself. "Oh really, you don't have to bother. I'm sure I can find something. "

Shada's cold eyes net straight through him. "No doubt. But I think we have something fitting left over from the costumes, if you don't mind that it will have Columbine's colours scheme."

Yugi frowned a bit. "It will be fine, thank you." As long as it was only the colour scheme and not a dress he could deal with that. He caught Yami's eyes, a small smile on his friend's – whatever he was – face.

"I think it would fit you. The colours are beautiful, actually."

Yugi just sighed. "I'm so relieved to hear that, truly." But even as Yami laughed at his dry tone, he couldn't help but feel a little bit glad about Yami's statement. Maybe the costume wouldn't be that bad.

Shada turned his head. "Good for you if you think so. I've got to put on some fool Pierrot thing. At least it's cool that's a blessing. What about you?" He turned towards Akefia, who met his gaze with a truly challenging smile.

"Oh I don't know, I think I'm going to use a harlequin's costume." His eyes wandered over to his hostess' face. Something seemed to flitter in the air for a moment, but it disappeared with Shada's laugh.

"There might have been three of us at that rate. I've got an old harlequin costume my wife made me when we were first married for some show or something." He paused, looking down at himself. "I don't suppose it would fit now."

Kisara shook her head. "No. No, it wouldn't fit anymore." Again her voice said more than mere words. She glanced at the clock without any change of impression. "If Molly doesn't arrive soon we can't wait for her any longer." But at that moment the girl was announced, stumbling behind the butler completely out of breath, but with sparkling eyes and a bright smile on her face. She was already dressed in her Pierrette costume, a dress of white and green, which made her look even more charming than usual.

Nearly bubbling from enthusiasm, her excitement was almost tangible. "I'm getting so awfully nervous," she announced over coffee after dinner. "I know my voice will wobble and I'll forget my lines."

Yugi grandfather laughed. "Sounds completely nerve-wracking. Don't worry young lady, the moment you step onto the stage you'll be fine."

Kisara also nodded. "Your voice is very charming. I wouldn't worry about it, if I were you."

The young girl shook her head, eyes pleadingly wide. "Oh but I do, I do very much. The other thing I don't mind, the dancing I mean. That will surely go right. I mean, you can't go very far wrong with your feet, can you?"

Yugi, who thanks to Téa needing a practice partner before she had had to give him up as a hopeless case had been dragged through more dancing than he ever would have liked, winced. There was a lot that could go wrong with your feet – his and Téa's poor feet could attest to that – and Téa would have lost it if she could have heard the girl now. But Molly, looking imploringly at Kisara to agree with her, didn't notice that.

The older woman however did not respond. Instead she turned her head slightly towards Yugi and his grandfather. "You could sing something now for our guests. They will reassure you, I know."

Without needing much prompting, Molly went over to the piano. Her voice rang out, fresh and tuneful, to sing an old Irish ballad.

 _Sheila, dark Sheila, what is it that you're seeing?_

 _What is it that you're seeing, that you're seeing in the fire?_

 _I see a lad that loves me – and I see a lad that leaves me,_

 _And a third lad, a Shadow Lad – and he's the lad that grieves me."_

The song went on, and you couldn't help but nod as it ended. His grandfather smiled. "Oh Mrs. Denman is right – your voice is charming, Not fully trained maybe, but naturally delightful and with a youthful quality to it."

Shada nodded slowly. "That's right. Just go ahead Molly, and don't let yourself drown in stage fright. We should be going over to Lady Camula's now."

The night was warm and glorious, a bright summer night with the faintest traces of the day's heat still lingering in the air, so it was proposed to walk over, Lady Camula's estate being only a few hundred yards down the road.

Yugi found himself next to Yami, to his pleasure. "It's strange." He looked down, a small smile on his lips, the words barely audible. "But that song of Molly's made me think of you." God, it sounded terrible out loud. "A Shadow lad. There is a mystery here and mystery somehow seems to be connected to you." His cheeks were burning when he finished. Dear god, he couldn't sound more ridiculous if he tried!

But Yami just smiled, slightly raising an eyebrow. "Am I so mysterious?" Quiet laughter was dancing in his voice, and Yugi had to smile too, even when he nodded.

"Oh yes, take tonight for example. I wouldn't have pegged you down for a professional dancer."

Yami just looked at him. "Really?" Non-committal, not answering anything; Yugi was used to this kind of answer, knew now, after so many months, that he wouldn't get anything more out of Yami, as irritating as it was.

His gaze travelled onwards towards the group of figure ahead of them. "There is something going on there." He only realised he had spoken aloud when Yami followed his gaze.

"With whom?" Yugi nearly rolled his eyes.

"As if you didn't know that. Those two, Akefia and Kisara. There is something different in her tonight, as thought a shutter usually closed has been opened and…" He paused for a moment. "You can see her glow within."

Yami was silent for a moment. When he spoke his voice was quite. "Yes. Perhaps so." It was an agreement and yet something in his words, in his voice, egged Yugi on to keep speaking.

"It's an old drama, is it not? Those two, they belong together. They are of the same world, the same…kind. Shada, he is not. Ten years ago he must have been very good looking, young, dashing, and he saved her live. It's hardly getting more romantic than that. But after all these years, what is he after all? A normal, distant, man, but mediocre at best. English like that furniture upstairs, and as ordinary as that young girl with her untrained voice." As he himself was, and Yami was anything but that. "You can't deny that this has to play out that way. Why would anybody like her stay with somebody so ordinary?" Why would Yami…

He barely dared to turn his head, didn't want to see what was on Yami's face now. His heart was beating painfully fast in his chest, and he couldn't help but feel that he had said more than he meant, more than he had ever wanted to say. But it was done, and he couldn't do anything but wait in the dark for the answer which would surely end everything he had hoped for. Normal and extraordinary, they just didn't go together.

Silence filled the air between them, and then Yami spoke, slowly and thoughtfully. "You are right, always right in what you see." Yugi had expected it, and yet the words still hit him like a dagger straight to the heart. With burning eyes he looked straight ahead, unwilling to let Yami see what was going on, but then – "And yet…" Yami trailed off, and then suddenly Yugi felt a soft touch, Yami's hand at his chin, and he wasn't able to resist as he turned his head gently, eyes brimming with unshed tears. Yami's own eyes, darkly and melancholy burning twin flames, met them, framed by a face which had never looked more serious or more sad. "Have you noticed so little?" His dark voice was barely more than a whisper. He leaned forward, almost directly towards Yugi, when a small shout from ahead, the question what the hell they were waiting for, interrupted them.

Gently Yami's hand glided away from Yugi's face, and with a last look back he left him out of breath and vaguely disquieted, unsure if that had really happened or if he had just lived through a waking dream. Slowly he trailed after the others, taking his time, lost in his thoughts, so that he barely nodded when he passed a dark place in the garden. The path ahead of him was bathed in moonlight, but even there shadows lurked, and as he moved around a bend he saw a couple hiding in one of those shadows, in each other's arms. For a moment he thought…

And then he saw it and the ground under his feet seemed to shake and rip open. Shada Denman and Molly Stanwell. Shada's voice, for the first time since he knew him, filled with emotion, hoarse and anguished, came to him. "I can't live without you. What should we do?"

Yugi stumbled back the way he came, trying to get away from this, to keep himself from being noticed, while his thoughts thrashed around in his head as if caught in a thunderstorm. But a small hand blocked his way and stayed him. Somebody else stood beside him, somebody who had also seen. Yugi needed only a glimpse towards her face to realise just how far of the mark his own conclusions had been.

Kisara's desolate hand held him till the other two had passed up the lane and disappeared from sight. He opened his mouth, but he really didn't know, what he said to her, his mind still in shock from what he had seen, still in chaos from whatever had happened between him and Yami. Foolish things, no doubt meant to be comforting, even as he knew that there was likely no comfort left for her. So ridiculously inadequate in the face of the pain he had just seen.

"Please." Even her voice shook a bit. "Please don't leave me." As if Yugi could have done that after what he just had seen. Not if he could help, even if what he could do was so little. So he offered her his arm, and talked, all the way to Lady Camula's estate, through her silence, saying those little things that meant nothing at all, but were still better than complete and stifling silence, acting as a lifeline in the dark. Sometimes her hand around his arm tightened, and he understood that she was glad not to be alone. She only untangled her arm from his when they finally arrived at their destination, staying very erect, with her head held high.

"Now, I shall dance." Her voice rang out through the night, and there was a hidden fire burning in her eyes, a determined smile on her face. "Do not be afraid for me my friend. I shall dance." With that she turned around abruptly and left.

Yugi made a small movement, as if to follow her, still so terribly afraid to leave her alone, but before he could he was seized upon by Lady Camula who, after some lamenting about the way the evening and the show would turn out now, passed him on to Alister.

The composer greeted him with a raised eyebrow. "I take it you have already heard everything that has happened. The show is pretty much set up to be a disaster now." Slight disdain curled around his lips. "Amateurs trying on roles meant for professionals. It should be an interesting evening."

Yugi nodded, even if he had an entire different set of circumstances in mind than Alister.

It was a relief when the first strains of music began, dragging Yugi out of his worries. Whatever people claimed about Alister's talent, they didn't oversell it. He could write music – the notes seeming delicate gossamer stuff, almost intangible like a fairy web – but without anything overly forced to it. And the scenery was a delight to watch. Lady Camula had spared no expense when it came to her protégé's work. A glade of arcady was visible; the lightning effects making it look unreal, like a distant dream.

Yugi tried to remember what he knew about the harlequinade, what he had researched once because Yami had recommended it. But what saw now wasn't really in line with the Italian comedy he had read about, but more, much more, with Yami's strange statement back then. _The immortals are always immortal…_ Just like the two figures dancing through this dream like scene as they did since the beginning of time. A slender harlequin flashing spangles in the moonlight with magic wand and masked face, and a white Columbine pirouetting like nothing Yugi had ever seen.

Next to him his grandfather suddenly sat up, body alert, eyes open wide as if he couldn't believe what he had seen. The old man's mouth moved, but there wasn't any sound at first. And when finally found a word it was so soft that Yugi wasn't sure he wasn't imagining it. "Kharsanova, the immortal Columbine…"

Harlequin and Columbine danced on the wide world theirs to play in. Moonlight came again, playing around a human figure, Pierrot wandering through the world singing at the moon. Pierrot who had seen Columbine once, and knew no rest since then. The immortal two vanished, but Columbine, having heard the song of a mortal heart looked back. Pierrot continued in his wandering through the woods, darkness slowly surrounding him, his voice trailing off.

Then there was the village green, the dancing of the village girls, the Pierrots and Pierrettes. Molly played the main Pierrette. Yugi had to agree with Kisara: she was no dancer, but her voice rang out fresh and tuneful as she sang, "Pierrette dancing on the green." Pierrot got pressed by the girls to join their dance, but he refused, wandering on with a white face, the image of the eternal lover seeking his ideal.

Evening fell again; Harlequin and Columbine were dancing in and out of the unconscious throng, invisible to all. The place was growing deserted, only Pierrot remaining, when he fell asleep on the grassy bank. But when he woke up, it was to see Columbine. He got up, tried to woo her in vain, pleading, beseeching. The graceful figure stopped, uncertain. Harlequin beckoned her to go, to come with him again, but she didn't turn her head, didn't seem to see him any more. She was listening to Pierrot's song, his declaration of love once more – and then she fell into his arms, right as the curtain came down.

The second act took place in Pierrot's cottage, with Columbine, pale and weary, sitting at the hearth, listening to something nobody else could hear. Pierrot sang again, wooing her back to thoughts of him once more. She turned her head, a weak, tired smile on her face. The evening began to darken, thunder could be heard in the distance. Columbine pushed aside her spinning wheel, her head snapping up. Eager, she looked towards the window, the door, her face alive with happiness. She was no longer listening to Pierrot's song, her own music filling the air, the music of Harlequin and Columbine.

She was remembering.

A crash of thunder nearly made Yugi jump, as the door to the cottage swung open, with Harlequin standing in the doorway. Pierrot looked on, quizzical; he couldn't see him, but Columbine sprang to her feet with a glad laugh. There were children coming on stage, running towards her pleadingly, but she pushed them all aside. Another crash of thunder, and the walls fell down and Columbine danced out into the wild night with Harlequin.

Darkness descended on the stage once more, through it slowly raised the tune that Pierrette had sung. With the light slowly coming back, the cottage became once more visible. Now there were Pierrot and Pierrette sitting in front of the hearth, having grown old together. The music, though subdued, was happy. Pierrette was slowly nodding in her chair, and through the window a shaft of moonlight fell into the cottage, accompanied by the motive of Pierrot's long-forgotten song. He began to stir as if remembering. Faint music, fairy like, accompanied Harlequin and Columbine's appearance outside. The door of the cottage swung open, to let Columbine dance in. She looked over the sleeping Pierrot, kissed him on the brow…

Again a crash of thunder ripped the scenery apart. Columbine appeared outside again, the lighted window being centre-stage and through it, two figures were visible. Harlequin and Columbine slowly danced away, growing fainter and fainter. Inside the cottage a log fell from the hearth. Pierrette jumped up, rushed to the window, and angrily pulled the blind. As sudden discord ended the whole show…

Yugi sat very still through all the applause and vociferations. Next to him his grandfather also seemed incapable of moving. A short look, an unsaid question, and the old man bowed his head to confirm that Yugi had heard what he had heard, that what he saw could only mean one thing.

Fast he jumped onto his feet, moving to make his way outside. On his way he passed Molly, flushed and eager, receiving the compliments that were due to her. He saw Shada, pushing and elbowing his way through the crowd. For the first time since he knew the man, his eyes seemed to be alive, lit by a hidden flame.

Molly turned towards him, smiling, but in an almost unconscious gesture he pushed her aside. Tonight he wasn't seeking her.

"My wife? Where is she?" The answer came from somewhere in the crowd.

"I think she went out in the garden."

But it wasn't Shada who found her. Yugi came upon her sitting on a stone seat under a cypress tree. The images of the show, so otherworldly beautiful, still danced through his mind, even if they filled him with an inexplicable sadness. Carefully he took a step towards the woman sitting on the bench, and then, without knowing why, he bowed.

Soft laughter filled the air. "Ah. You think I danced well."

Yugi rose again, eyes seriou. "It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen, Madam Kharsanova."

She drew in a sharp breath. "So you guessed, and here I thought you were too young for that."

Yugi nodded slowly. "My grandfather did. I merely listened. But I understand now why everybody claims that nobody could see you dance and forget. That there is only one Kharsanova." He couldn't remember a moment where dancing had ever affected him so before. Shaken and confused he looked at the woman before him with a frown. "But why?" Why would she give this up, this art which made her look so alive that Yugi had no doubt that she loved it. Why?

She looked at him with a small smile on her lips. "What else is possible?"

He blinked. "What?"

She laughed. Before she had spoken very simple, and when she continued it was in the same vain. "Oh please a great dancer – she can have lovers, as many as she wants, but a husband, that's different. And he…he didn't want the other way… He wanted me to belong to him, and Kharsanova could never have belonged."

Oh yes, Yugi could see that clearly. She let out a small breath. "I see. So you gave it up?"

She nodded.

"You." He stumbled over his own words for a moment. Unsure if he was presuming too much, talking about something so private. But somehow the two of them were already past that point, after everything that had happened earlier. "You must have loved him very much."

She laughed. "Because I made such a sacrifice?"

He shook his head "Not quite. I mean, yes that too, but you made it so light-hearted."

She slowly nodded. "Ah yes, I understand. Perhaps you are right"

Yugi looked at her. "And now? What will happen now?" He was afraid, and he couldn't even say why. She seemed so calm, so happy and collected, and yet…

Her face grew grave. "Now?" She slowly repeated his question, before raising her voice and speaking into the shadows. "Is that you Akefia?" Slowly Akefia stepped out into the moonlight. He took her hand without sparing Yugi a glance as if he wasn't even there. "I thought you were dead for ten years."

She only smiled. "At the end of the lane in ten minutes. I will not fail you." He nodded, and disappeared into the shadows again.

With a small smile, the dancer turned towards Yugi again. "He will never learn any manners. Well, " she laughed up at him. "Are you not satisfied my friend?"

Yugi shrugged helplessly, unable to decide what exactly he should say, if it was even his place to do so. Barely he managed to stutter something out. "Your husband,you should know. He was looking for you, just now…" He trailed off, and a tremor passed over her face. But when she spoke her voice was steady enough.

"Yes. That may be so."

Yugi gulped. "He looked…"

She interrupted him gently. "I know. For an hour perhaps. An hour's magic born of past memories of music and moonlight, that is all." Yugi remained silent, while Kisara Kharsanova looked up at him, still smiling. "For ten years I have lived with the man I loved. Now I am going to the man who for ten years has loved me."

Yugi still said nothing. It sounded like a perfect solution and yet… Yet there still was that feeling of nameless dread that overcame him each time he looked at her. If it was solved and the problem was gone, why would he still be afraid for her?

Kisara stood up, and placed her hand gently on his shoulders. "I know my friend, I know. But there is no third way, no perfect balance. One always looks for one thing, the lover, the perfect, eternal lover… I've done that for years and I think you do too now. You hear the music of Harlequin. But that also means that no lover can ever be enough, for all lovers are mortal. And you should know that in the end: Harlequin is only a myth, just an invisible presence – unless…"

Yugi could barely speak, as if he knew what would come now. "Yes?"

Her eyes blazed at him in the dark. " Unless his name is – Death!" With that she turned away, disappearing in the darkness, leaving Yugi behind and shivering. Death. Her voice still rang out in his mind, and he couldn't even disagree, couldn't shake off the feeling of her words as some kind of emotional reaction to the evening. Because she just had said out loud what he had known for a long time and tried to ignore.

He didn't know how long he sat there, till he suddenly climbed to his feet, overcome with the feeling that he was wasting valuable time. He hurried away, impelled to a certain direction almost in spite of himself.

He stepped onto Harlequin's Lane, the Lovers Lane, and suddenly unreality washed over him. Magic. Magic and moonlight and two figures coming towards him. There was Akefia, still in his Harlequin dress. At least that was his first thought, but when they passed him, it was with his heart beating so fast that it nearly seemed to break that he realised his mistake. That lithe, swaying figure could only belong to one person alone.

Yami.

They continued on down the lane, Yugi watching them frozen in spot, their feet light as if they were treading on air. Yami turned his head to look back straight at him, with a mixture of regret and a strange determination in his eyes, but it wasn't his face –- the face Yugi knew so well now, the strangely gleaming red eyes, the kind smile. It was the face of a stranger looking directly back at him. But no, not quite a stranger. Yugi gasped when he realised that he was looking at Shada's face, on how he must have looked like before life went too well without him. Eager, full of emotions, the face of a boy and a lover…

Kisara's laugh floated down the lane to him, clear and sure and happy. He looked after them, and saw in the distance the light of a small cottage. For a while he just stood there, unmoving, gazing after them like a man caught in a dream.

A hand on his shoulder roughly threw him out of this dream, and he was jerked around to face Akefia. His dark face had turned a few shades paler and his eyes glared both angry and afraid. "Where is she? Where is she? She promised, and she didn't come."

Yugi opened his mouth, but another voice, behind him, was faster. "Madam has just gone up the lane. Alone." Kisara's maid, speaking from the door behind them looked at them both. Obviously she had been waiting with her mistress wraps. "I… I was standing here and saw her pass."

Yugi turned around, looking at her as if she was mad. "Alone? You…you said she was alone?"

With wide eyes the maid looked at him. "Yes sir. Didn't you see her off too?"

Yugi turned back towards Akefia. "Quick. I fear we might be too late…"

There it was, the feeling of dread hitting him full force, the strange unknowable thing he had been fearing for his whole stay here. They hurried down the lane, the man at his side continuing to talk, maybe trying to chase away the fear growing in the silence. "Wonderful creature, isn't she? And how she danced tonight, and that friend of yours… I've never seen any of her partners keep up with her like that. In the old days, when she danced the Columbine of Rimsky Korsakoff, there was never a Harlequin good enough for her. Mordoff, Kassnine – none of the were quite perfect. She had her own little fancy, she told me one day, of dancing with a dream Harlequin, a man not quite there. Harlequin himself, she claimed, who came to dance with her, an old friend to rely on… It was this fancy that made her Columbine so wonderful…"

The words just made Yugi even more afraid.

They came around the last corner right to the deep pit and to something lying in it that had not been there before. The body of a woman lying in a wonderful pose, arms flung wide and head thrown back, a triumphant smile on her face, looking for the first time, truly and completely, happy.

A dead face and body that were triumphant and beautiful in the moonlight.

Words were playing through Yugi's mind, dimly, as if coming from far away. They were Yami's words. Wonderful things on a rubbish heap. He was beginning to understand them now. Next to him Akefia was murmuring broken phrases. His head was turned down, hiding the tears streaming down his cheeks. "I loved her…" He used almost the same words as Yugi had said, earlier in the day, towards Yami. "We were the same, of the same world, same origins, dreaming the same dreams. I would have loved her always." There was something so mad, so angry in his voice, that Yugi's head snapped up.

"How do you know?"

The words were out before he even realised what he wanted to say, Akefia staring at him, but maybe it was the lasting impression of the show, of the last words he had shared with woman now laying death, that drove Yugi on. "How do you know? All lovers think that, say that, but…" He looked down at Kisara, at her triumphant smile, and repeated the very words she had just said. "There is only one lover.

" Akefia looked down at the pit, no trace of understanding in his eyes. Yugi turned around, ready to give him space, just to nearly smack into Yami, standing directly behind him.

Without looking at him, without giving him any chance to speak, Yugi grabbed his arm, and drew him aside. "It was you!" He wasn't even sure if he was angry, shaken, afraid, or agitated, looking up at Yami with burning eyes. "It was you who was with her just now."

Yami waited a minute head bowed, before he spoke gently. "You…can put it that way if you like."

Yugi snorted. "I could also put it a very different way." _You killed her._ Even in his mind he could barely form the words. His voice was shaking as he spoke, and again he couldn't tell if it was because of anger or sorrow. "And the maid didn't see you?"

Yami shook his head. "The maid didn't see me." His voice was still so calm, so gentle; Yugi almost wished to shake him, to get any reaction out of him. "I saw you. Why?"

Yami looked up. On his face Yugi saw the same mixture he had recognised before from the distance. Regret, something almost looking like sorrow, heartbreak…maybe that was only what he wanted to see, he couldn't tell, and a quiet determination. "You have already seen so much, started to see even more. You pay attention to details you used to watch, not to participate yourself in the game…maybe that's why you see things that other people – do not."

He could have spoken Greek for all that Yugi understood what he was saying. Yugi looked at his companion, at the man he had actually started to…started to have feelings for and shook his head uncomprehendingly. Then suddenly, as if everything finally caught up with him, he started to shake like a leaf in the wind, turning his head away from Yami, unable to look at him any longer.

"What is this place?" The lane still looked as beautiful and charming as before, but now Yugi couldn't glance at it without seeing darkness and danger hiding in every corner.

"I told you before." Yami's still spoke gently, and Yugi nearly had covered his ears. He didn't want to be comforted by him; he didn't want to be reminded how nice, how charming, Yami could be. Not now. "It is my lane."

Yugi looked unblinkingly at the road; it was still better than looking at Yami. He probably would have broken down if he did that. "A lover's lane. And people pass along it." His voice was a quiet murmur, but Yami still answered.

"Most people do, sooner or later."

Yugi slightly turned his head, not looking directly at Yami but still needing to know. "And at the end of it…what do they find?" _Is what they find worth it?_ The same question he had asked himself so long ago: is it possible, so long ago before it felt as if his heart would break? Out of the corner of his eye he caught Yami smiling, unsure, as he pointed at the ruined cottage above them.

"The house of their dreams, or a rubbish heap. Who can say?" His voice was still so unbearably gentle; that anger, hot and unreasonable and burning, crashed straight through Yugi.

"But I… I have played your games these past few months. I have passed down your road!" It was the closest he had ever come to admitting it.

Yami returned his gaze, and for a moment Yugi was sure he saw real heart-break in his face. Then… "And do you regret that?" Yugi opened his mouth unable to answer. Suddenly Yami seemed to have loomed to enormous proportions. Yugi caught glimpse of just what he could actually see, of something at once menacing and terrifying. Joy, sorrow, despair – and even as he shrank back, for the first time since he knew Yami, something like fear coursed through his couldn't help but noticing something else though. Life. Everything in there seemed so recklessly alive…

"Do you regret it?" Yami repeated his question and there was something terrible about him, even as his voice still was nothing but kind and gentle.

"No." Yugi shook his head, stammering through the words. "No." Then he suddenly rallied. "But I have seen things, things that others didn't. You said that yourself. So what…" But he couldn't ask his question anymore because Yami had vanished.


	7. At the Crossroads

**At the Crossroads**

Months after the events at Harlequin's Lane, with winter slowly beginning to hold the land in its grip – even if the first snow was still nothing more than a promising scent in the wind – Yugi sat in Tristan's small apartment, and looked thoughtfully into the flames. He didn't know why he was in such a mood tonight. It wasn't like he didn't enjoy seeing his friend, or that the evening had gone anything other than well. But something made him restless tonight, and with an irritated shake of his head, he turned back towards his friend.

It was about half past seven, with both of them sitting in the living room in Tristan's apartment, and just talking about how things were going now. Maybe it was that, the thing that threw Yugi's mind in a mess. Not that he could complain, he was about to finish his own game design, and Kaiba had, in his usual charming way, actually hinted at being interested in taking that game on for his company before he had interrupted the call to fight with Joey, which was very interesting indeed. So Yugi actually had reason to celebrate. But the talk had also gone back towards the events at Greenways, months earlier, and thus Yami's name had come up.

Yami…Yugi hadn't seen or heard anything from the strange man. From Death, he should finally be able to admit it, damn it, after what happened at Harlequin's Lane, and while most people would have been relieved by that, he couldn't help himself. He was starting to miss him. Even… Even after their last talk…

He nodded, a small smile on his face hiding his thoughts, as he listened to Tristan talk. He tried to dispel the memories haunting him that night. Tristan probably noticed that Yugi wasn't paying that much attention to him, given that he was looking at him once or twice in a way that was almost concerned, but Yugi's friend had always been patient. He would wait till Yugi actually wanted to talk about his problems, and if he didn't, then he wouldn't ask. Yugi was relieved to know that.

The sharp ringing of the phone interrupted Tristan and threw Yugi out of his thoughts. With a sigh Tristan crossed the room and picked up the receiver. "Hello, yes? Inspector Taylor speaking? What is it?" His demeanor altered: he stood up a little straighter, becoming stiff and official. It was the inspector who spoke now, not Yugi's friend. He listened for a few more moments before he nodded. "Right. I'll be there at once." He replaced the receiver and with a frown on his face he turned back towards his friend. "Sorry, Yugi, I have to go. Sir James Dwighton has been found in his library. Murdered."

Yugi sat up at once. "Really?" It probably was not really ok to be that excited about murder. And Yugi's mood probably shouldn't have peaked up at this either. And he did feel bad for the man, even if he had no idea who he was, just like he did for the man's friends and family. It was terrible…but after the last few months he had developed an interest in those cases, and if there was a murder than maybe… It was ridiculous, foolhardy, and a terrible thought to have, but maybe there was a chance.

Tristan nodded. "Yes. I need to go to Alderway." He stopped, and shot his friend a sharp look. "Care to come with me?"

Yugi blinked. He had honestly not expected that question. "Uh, if that's fine. Are you sure that won't be a problem?" He really didn't want to get in the way of anything, or, in the worst case, be the reason why this murder would go on unsolved.

Tristan shrugged. "It will be alright. You proved that you got a brain for details once, and honestly, I would be glad if I didn't have to go into that alone. I've got a feeling that this is going to be nasty business."

Yugi hesitated for a moment, before he nodded. If there was even the slightest chance – and if he could help Tristan, even if it was just by being there … He couldn't deny that. Even if he was a little bit startled to see Tristan that worried about a case.

He nodded, joining Tristan on his way out. "Have they got the one who did it?"

Tristan shook his head. "No." His face was drawn, a frown etched deep into it. Yugi shot him a short glance. No, something was definitely wrong with his friend. As if he had felt Yugi's look, Tristan began to fill him in on the dead man. According to him the late Sir James had been a "pompous old fellow," brusque in his manner, and with a talent to make enemies. He had been close to sixty, sporting grizzled hair and a florid face. He was reputed to be very tight-fisted.

He had married late, Vivian Wong, now Lady Dwighton, a woman young enough to be his daughter or his granddaughter. Tristan was pretty vague about the subject, but there had been rumours, hints, and the usually odd bits of gossip. Yugi was starting to see why Tristan was looking a bit concerned over the case, even if it didn't quite make sense.

Driving down through the night, with Yugi in the seat next to him, Tristan shook his head. "She is beautiful, had been an actress before her marriage, did that again in one of those charity things last spring. One of those renaissance or baroque dramas… Lucrezia Borgia, and she is the type for it." He realised what he just said, and cursed, letting the car swerve slightly.

Yugi looked over to him carefully. "He… Lord Dwighton, he wasn't poisoned, wasn't he?" Lucrezia Borgia did bring to mind certain pictures after all.

Tristan looked at him with a frown. "No, if you have to know, he was crashed on the head."

Yugi nodded slowly. "With a blunt instrument."

Tristan snorted. "You don't have to talk like a damn detective novel, Yugi. He was hit on the head with a bronze figure."

With a small "oh," Yugi relapsed into silence. A couple of minutes passed, before Tristan spoke again. "Know anything about somebody called Siegfried von Schröder?"

Yugi looked at his friend curiously. The name did ring a bell, but only in the vaguest sense, and he wasn't sure what this had to do with the murder. "Uh, only as the CEO of a German gaming company. He's Kaiba's biggest rival." And the third person, after Kaiba and Pegasus, he could have theoretically offered his game to for production. Not that contacting the company had been necessary after all, but still.

Tristan nodded. "That's the one." The disgust on his face was so evident that Yugi couldn't help but wonder.

"You don't like him?" He had never met von Schröder, and that reaction was curious.

Tristan shook his head. "No, I don't. He is always parading around like a diva."

Yugi hide a smile. "So he is staying here?"

His friend nodded. "In a way. He's been staying at Alderway with the Dwightons. But if the rumour mill is correct Sir James kicked him out a week ago." He glanced over to Yugi. "For flirting with his wife, and maybe doing more than just flirting, if you know what I mean."

Oh yes, he understood too well. Yugi looked back on the road, the same time as Tristan that, when the later suddenly stifled a curse. "What the hell…"

A violent swerve and a jarring impact, followed by more, less harmless curses, followed that. Tristan looked up. "Most dangerous crossroads in England, I swear!" He frowned. "Still, the other one could have at least sounded his horn, we're on the main road! Though I think we damaged him more than he has damaged us." He sprang out, followed by Yugi shortly after. He waited by the car, while a figure climbed out of the other one to join him. Figures of speech, softly over the distance, reached Yugi, and for a moment his heart stopped. "Entirely my fault, I'm afraid," the stranger was saying, the voice a rich, dark baritone, which sounded all too familiar. "But I don't really know this part of the country very well, and there is no sign to show that you are coming on the main road."

Tristan nodded, mollified, throwing in a few rather disparaging comments about "this damned crossroads," before the two of them bowed down to examine the stranger's car, accompanied by his chauffeur. The conversation turned rather technical, with Tristan's talent for mechanics showing, while Yugi waited with bated breath a and fast-beating heart. That could only be…oh please…

Finally Tristan looked up with a sigh. "That should take your chauffeur half an hour at least." He looked over at the stranger, frowning. "Hey, don't I know you."

The figure nodded. "I think we met in Greenways, inspector." Yugi didn't need to see him to be clearly able to imagine the smile that accompanied these words, to know how red those eyes would sparkle with hidden amusement. "But please, don't let me hold you back. I'm just glad your car escaped injury as well as it did."

Tristan nodded. "Yes, yes, but at Greenways…" He didn't get to finish his sentence.

Yugi hadn't been able to contain himself any more. He had stumbled the few steps that separated himself from the others forward, stepping with a beating heart into the cone made by the other car's headlights, still so afraid. If it was about being wrong, or if he feared being right, he couldn't say, but then the stranger turned, as if feeling Yugi's eyes burning into him, and Yugi stopped.

For the first time in months, he looked straight into Yami's face.

He hadn't changed at all. His face was still the same: still achingly beautiful, red eyes still glowing with a hidden flame. But when they locked with Yugi the fire in them diminished. Yami's face changed, the smile disappeared from his face, and he looked concerned, maybe even a bit sad.

For a moment the two of them just looked at each other, neither able to move or turn away, with Tristan looking from one to the other, growing more confused and irritated by the second. Then, after what felt like eternity for Yugi, with his heart almost hurting in his chest with each beat it took, Yami inclined his head in greeting. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you would be here. I never meant to intrude upon you again. But I'm afraid it can't be helped." A smile played upon his lips, but in the dark shadows it almost looked sad.

Yugi shook his head. "That… You have nothing to be sorry about." He still wasn't sure how to react to Yami again, even if he had waited for this moment for months. He had so much to say, to ask, to angrily scream at the man who had just left him standing the last time they had talked. Everything seemed to be equally important, a thunderstorm of emotions and thoughts threatening to split his head in two – and yet the sentence he finally managed to say was something completely different.

"You are coming to Alderway?" Tristan opened his mouth, likely to either complain or at least ask a question, but Yugi already turned to him. "Please. You remember Greenways, you asked about it yourself. Yami could be helpful." Yami was needed, of that he was sure. He wouldn't turn up without a reason, wouldn't still stay here without a reason, after he had already excused himself for that. And whatever that was, Yugi knew it could be dangerous not to bring him along. Also, this was the first time Yami had bothered to show up in months. If he thought Yugi would just let him disappear again that easily, just because he was bounded to go somewhere else, he had another thing coming. He was confused, yes, and busy, but they needed to talk. And this time Yami would not run away, damn it!

He looked at Tristan with determination, and the best pleading eyes he could manage. It was a mean trick he knew, but desperate times called for desperate measures. "We can't leave him stranded on the road." Well they probably could, but… He turned again to Yami. With the headlight behind him, and the red backlight from the other car, it almost looked like the man watching him was dressed in motley colours. An odd trick of the light…

"You must come along with us. There is plenty of room for three, right Tristan?" He turned towards his friend again. "Please. He solved Rex's suicide; Joey told you about that. And Greenways and …others since." He trailed off, bowing his head in memory, a small wistful smile playing on his lips. "He…he shows you things that are there all the time, but which you have overlooked. It's… He's marvellous." The last sentence was almost inaudible so softly had Yugi spoken. Behind him, he heard Yami's voice. "No. You made those discoveries, as far as I can remember. Not me." His voice was almost as soft a Yugi, and strange regretful undertone in his voice.

For a moment there was silence around them, before Tristan raised his eyes heavenwards with a sigh. "Ok, before we waste any more time. Get moving, the two of you." Yugi could hear his friends grumbling about "heaven save me from lovestruck idiots," but he honestly didn't care. He was again sitting next to Tristan, Yami directly behind them, and as the car drove on again towards Alderway, Yugi couldn't keep a smile off his face. Yami was back!

Tristan, doing his best to be as genial as possible given the situation, glanced towards his new passenger for a second. "So you are interested in crime?"

Yami shook his head. "No, not in crime." Yugi smiled a bit more at those words, a familiar play, varied on each encounter but still the same, and so comforting at the moment, as if nothing had gone wrong. He knew that there was still enough to sort out, but the familiarity was comforting. He didn't notice that Yami was still watching him from behind, his head tilted sideways, as if he wasn't sure how to proceed. The normally so confident man looked almost afraid.

Tristan raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What, then?" Yami's eyes wandered for a second to Tristan, but it was Yugi who answered before him.

"Lovers." He spoke softly, almost without thinking. "I think that Yami is…interested in lovers." He couldn't speak without feeling his face heat up, both for what he had said, even if he instinctively knew that to be true, and for what that word, in connection with Yami had meant – still possibly meant – to him. What could be or could have been…

Tristan closed his eyes for a moment. "Dear god!" He shuddered, and since it was obvious that this topic was grating quite on his nerves.

Yugi, with a sympathetic smile towards his friend, started to tell Yami about the case. It took nearly ten minutes. Sitting there in the darkness, rushing through the nights, Yugi's feelings were almost intoxicating. It felt so right to sit there, no longer a onlooker in the game, but the one to recount it, to make it come a life again through his words. Like one of Joey's artworks, the words formed a clear picture, a strange renaissance painting about Vivian and her husband, and the shadow figure of Siegfried. The scenery was delivered by Alderway, a building probably from the day of Henry VII or even older, an ancient seat of Lord Dwighton's line, which had, no matter how bad the times had been, never become impoverished, wringing out money from the land and locking it fast in coffers.

He was talking passionately, excitedly, just happy to have Yami back, to have a chance again at making right what had gone wrong; or at least getting closure if that should not work out, of being finally on a case with him again, talking, such a familiar dance between them. Almost breathlessly he ceased, waiting for some reaction from his audience. And it did come. "You are an artist, Yugi." Yami's voice sounded so sincere, Yugi had to bow his head to hide his fluster. "I – I do my best." But his eyes sparkled happily at the compliment.

Tristan let out a grateful sigh as they finally passed the lodge gates and a few minutes after that the car drove up in front of the doorway and a police constable hurried down the stairs. "Good evening, sir. Constable Curtis is in the library."

Tristan almost ran up the steps, followed not quite as hastily by the other two. Yami now seemed to be a bit more at ease around Yugi, even if he still apeared a bit weary and Yugi… Yugi was sometime sneaking glances at him, as if to make certain he was really there.

An elder butler was awaiting them at the doorway, peering at them apprehensively. Tristan nodded to him. "Evening Miles. Quite sad business."

Miles shook his head. "Indeed. I can hardly believe it sir, indeed I can't. To think that anyone would strike down the master!"

Tristan nodded hastily, cutting short another wail. "Yes, yes, I'll be talking with you presently." He strode on, directly to the library. Now, at the scene of the crime, he looked oddly strung up, his gaze dark.

Inside the library a big, soldierly-looking constable greeted him. "Nasty business, sir. Nothing has been disturbed. No fingerprints on the weapon. Whoever is responsible knew his business."

Yugi's eyes wandered over to the bowed figure sitting at the big writing table, and hurriedly averted his eyes again. As exciting a case and his luckily fulfilled hopes had been, this was still a terribly tragedy, and the sight of the victim drove that point home hard. The man had been stuck down from behind, a smashing blow that had crashed in the skull. The sight wasn't a pretty one, and he could feel his dinner moving in his stomach.

The weapon lay on the floor. An elegantly formed bronze figure about two feet high, with its base stained and wet. Yugi bent down to get a closer look. He knew this figure, so similar to pictures in his grandparents books. "A Venus." His voice was soft as though he could barely believe what he saw. "He was struck down by Venus." This oddly poetic thought somehow made that brutal crime seem even more cruel. Behind him, he could still hear Tristan and the constable talking.

"The windows," the constable was saying at this moment, "were all closed and bolted on the inside." Yugi turned around in time to see him looking meaningfully at Tristan. Yugi's friend nodded, almost reluctantly.

"Which would make this an inside job. Well, well, we'll see…" He didn't sound all that happy about the thought.

The murdered man was dressed in golf clothes. A bag of clubs lay flung untidily across a big leather couch. The constable nodded at it, following Tristan's gaze. "He just came in from the links. At five-fifteen, that was. Had the tea brought here by the butler. Later he rang for his valet to bring him down a pair of soft slippers. That valet was the last person to see him alive, as far as we can tell."

Tristan nodded, his attention turning back towards the writing table. Many of the ornaments on it had been overturned and broken. A big, dark enamel clock lay in the very centre of it, on its side.

The constable cleared his throat. "Yes, we are very much in luck, sir. As you see it stopped at exactly half past six. That gives us the time of the crime. Quite convenient"

Tristan just stared at the clock. "As you say, very convenient." He paused, a frown playing over his face. "Too damned easy, if you ask me. I don't like it, constable." He looked around, again remembering his two companions. His eyes found Yami's first, and he looked at him as if he was appealing to an outsider judge. "Damn it all, it's too neat. You know what I mean." Gesturing angrily, Tristan pointed at the clock. "Things don't happen like that."

Yami turned his head sideways, as if thinking, blinking confusedly. "You mean," he murmured, "that clocks don't fall like that?"

Tristan stared at him, then back at the clock, than back at Yami's beatifically, vaguely confused smile, then back at the quite innocent looking clock. Very carefully he placed it on its legs again. Then he struck the table in a violent blow. The clock rocked, but it did not fall. Tristan repeated the action and very slowly, with a visible unwillingness the clock fell over on its back.

Tristan looked at it for a moment, before he turned back towards his constable. "At what time was the crime discovered?"

The constable looked in his notes. "Just about seven o'clock, sir."

Tristan looked at him sharply. "And who discovered it?"

Again the constables gaze wandered towards his notes. "The butler."

Tristan nodded. "Fetch him. I'll talk to him now." His eyes narrowed, suddenly remembering something. "Where is Lady Dwighton, by the way?"

The constable sighed. "She is lying down, sir. Her maid says that she is in no condition to see anyone. Must have been quite a shock."

Tristan nodded, and his constable went off to search for the butler. Yami was looking at the fireplace, lost in his own thoughts. Throwing him some cautious looks, Yugi took a step next to him, and followed his example. At first he saw nothing out of order, blinking down at little more than two smouldering logs for a minute or two, but then, just as he was about to give up, something bright lying in the grate caught his eye. He bowed down and picked up a little sliver of curved glass. Yami had turned his head to watch him.

"You wanted me, sir?" The butler's voice, still quavering and uncertain, rang out through the room, and Yugi slipped the fragment of glass into his pocket before he turned around. The old man stood in the doorway, nervous and unsure.

Tristan sighed, and looked over at him kindly. "Sit down." A smile lay on his lips, and his voice was kind. "You are shaking all over. It must have been a shock to you, I expect."

The butler bowed his head, as he sat down. "It has been indeed, sir."

Tristan sat down across from him, folding his hands. "Well, I won't keep you long. You master came in just after five, right?"

The butler nodded. "Yes, sir. He ordered tea to be brought to him here. Afterward, when I came to take it away, he asked for Devlin to be sent to him… That's his valet."

Tristan nodded. "Yes, I know." It was more of a sigh than a comment, and he continued on almost immediately. "What time was that?"

The butler thought for a moment. "About ten minutes past six, sir." Tristan gestured for him to continue. "Well, I sent word to Devlin. And then… It wasn't till I came in here to shut the windows and draw the curtains at seven o'clock that…that I saw…."

Tristan interrupted him. "Yes, yes, you don't need to recount all of that. You didn't touch the body or disturb anything?"

The butler looked at him in offended shock. "Oh! No, no indeed, sir! I went as fast as I could to go to the telephone and ring the police!"

Tristan nodded him on. "And then?" The butler drew a deep breath. "I told Jane, her ladyship's maid, sir, to break the news to her ladyship."

Tristan looked up interestedly. "So you haven't seen your mistress all evening?" He put the question casually enough, but Yugi could hear the clear interest in his words.

The butler shook his head. "Not to speak to, sir. Her ladyship remained in her own room since the tragedy."

Tristan looked at him expectantly. "Did you see her before?" It was a sharp question, and everybody in the room could see how the butler hesitated, before he replied.

"I… I caught a glimpse of her, nothing more, as she descended the staircase."

Tristan's gaze seemed to nail the frail man to the couch. "And did she come in here?"

Yugi held his breath. Was it truly that easy? He almost felt for the old man on the couch, eyes roaming around helplessly, before he nodded. "I…I think so, sir."

Tristan's next question came almost instantly. "What time was that?" You could have heard a pin drop in the floor, so silent was the room. Yugi had to wonder, if the old man knew what hung on his answer? Probably, it was quite obvious.

"It was just upon half past six, sir."

Tristan drew a deep breath. "Thank you. That will do." He hesitated for a moment, then…"Just send Devlin to me, will you?"

Duke Devlin, the dead man's valet, answered the summons promptly. He was a good-looking, narrow-faced man with a catlike tread. A smile played on his lips even now, and his fingers were always in motion, playing with one thing or the other. He was a bit subdued of course, given his master just had died, but it was a far cry from the shakiness of the butler, and he seemed to take a particular delight in teasing Tristan with his answers. It almost seemed as if he wasn't taking this case all that serious.

But either way, his story, with or without all the flourishes that he added, was straightforward enough. He had brought down the slippers his master had sent for and removed the brogues.

Tristan nodded. "And what did you do after that?

" Duke leaned back on the couch, linking his fingers together. "I went back to the steward's room, sir." His eyes sparkled when he used the title, and the way he spoke it just barely passed not being called teasing. Tristan just rolled his eyes.

"At what time did you leave your master?"

Duke thought for a moment. "It must have been just a quarter past six, sir."

Tristan fixed him with a determined stare. "Where were you at half past six, Devlin?"

The man on the couch just grinned. "In the steward's room, sir. I'm afraid I was the only one present. For once." A grin accompanied his last words, and Tristan send him away with another eye roll.

"Irritating bastard," Yugi heard him mutter, but despite that he could swear Tristan looked almost fondly at the parting man. His friend shook his head before he turned towards the constable.

Curtis shrugged. "Well, we checked his story, and as far as we can tell it's correct. He was in the steward's room from about six-twenty until seven o'clock."

Tristan sighed. "Then that lets him out." He sounded almost relieved. "Besides, it's not like he has a motive."

A tap on the door made all of them look up. At Tristan's invitation, a scared-looking lady's maid appeared. "If – if you please, her ladyship has heard that the inspector is here, and she would like to see him."

Tristan nodded. "Certainly. I will come up at once. Can you show me the way?" But a hand pushed the girl aside, before she could react. A very different figure took her place in the doorway: Lady Vivian Dwighton, looking like a visitor from another world. She was dressed in traditional Chinese clothing, made of the finest silk. Her ebony-black hair was done up in two buns upon her head, giving her pale, finely-angled face the perfect frame. Her arms were bare, one of them outstretched to steady herself against the door frame, the other hanging down by her side, clasping a book. She stood there, swaying slightly from side to side, the shock still having a deep hold over her. Tristan sprang up to take one step towards her, probably to help her maid steady her.

"I've come to tell you…to tell you…" Her voice was low and rich. Yugi couldn't help but watch the scene taking place wide-eyed, almost forgetting that it was real, and not part of a stage melodrama.

"Please, Lady Dwighton." Tristan steadied her with one arm, throwing a helpless, slightly panicked look towards Yugi. He just made an equally helpless gesture, not sure how to be of any help in this particular situation. Finally Tristan guided her across the hall into a small anteroom, with its wall hung with faded silks, Yami and Yugi following them almost immediately.

She sank down on the low sofa, head resting back on a rust-coloured cushion, eyelids closed. Then suddenly she opened her eyes and sat up, speaking very quietly. Her eyes seemed to burn themselves into the three men watching her. "I killed him." The words were clear, no hint of hesitation, or any danger of misunderstanding. "That's what I came to tell you. I killed him!"

Agonized silence followed her words. Yugi's mouth dropped open a bit, and he stared at the lady incredulously. Tristan seemed to have an equal problem of grasping what he heard. "Lady Dwighton." He spoke carefully, looking at her verily. "Are you sure you know what you are saying? You had a great shock…"

She shook her head vigorously, an almost irritated frown on her face. "I know perfectly well what I'm saying. It was I who shot him."

Two of the man in the room gasped, Yugi and Tristan sharing a confused and shocked look, while the last one just watched on, in complete silence. Vivian Dwighton leaned still farther forward, trying to hold the men's gaze. "Do you understand? I came down and shot him. I admit it." With a small clatter the book she had been holding in her hand fell to the floor. A paper cutter shaped like a dagger with a jewelled hilt, probably serving as a bookmark, fell out. Yugi picked it up almost automatically to place it back on the table. When he looked at it, he couldn't hide a shudder. Quite a dangerous toy that one. He was willing to bet you could kill someone with it.

"Well?" Harsh and impatient, Vivian's voice drew his attention back towards her. "What are you waiting for? Aren't you going to arrest me? Take me away?"

With great difficulty Tristan finally found his voice back. "You, ah, just made a very serious accusation towards yourself, Lady Dwighton. Please, I must ask you to leave the room till I have, er, made arrangements." He could have sounded more convinced, but Vivian still nodded and rose to her feet. Now her composure was back in place, making her grave and cold. She was nearly at the door, when Yami's voice stopped her.

"What did you do with the revolver, Lady Dwighton?"

Uncertainty passed across her face, only for a moment, before the mask was back in place. "I – I…dropped it on the floor? No, I think I threw it out of the window." She shook her head, an impertinent put appearing on her face. "Oh, I can't remember! What does it matter? I hardly knew what I was doing. It doesn't matter, does it?" She looked imploringly at Yami, who shook his head.

"No. I hardly think it matters." He was completely calm, which made her look at him for the first time, in complete perplexity. Then she flung back her head, and stormed out of the room. Yugi hastened after her, fearing that she would fall down any minute. But by the time he was out the door she was already halfway up the staircase, her earlier weakness completely gone. Yugi watched her disappear followed by the same scared-looking amid from earlier, before he returned towards the others.

He came just in time to catch Tristan's sigh. "Well, that's a nice riddle right there. Damn it, it's almost like one of those silly things the heroine of a novel would do."

Yugi nodded. "It did seem a little bit unreal, like something on the stage."

Yami nodded. "Yes…well one can admire the drama, appreciate good acting when one sees it." Yugi shot him a sharp, quizzical look, but Yami just bowed his head, hiding a smile. Yugi leaned back with a snort.

A far-off sound interrupted the silence that followed. Tristan turned his head towards it. "Sounded like a shot. One of the keepers probably. Maybe that's what she heard…she could have went down to see, and if she didn't get close enough to examine the body, quite understandable given that mess, she could have leaped towards this conclusion…"

The butler appearing in the doorway interrupted his thoughts. He bowed, while Tristan looked at him expectantly. "Mr. von Schröder is here, sir. He'd like to speak with you, if he may."

Tristan leaned back in his chair, a grim look on his face. "And here comes the next one. Show him in."

A moment later Siegfried von Schröder appeared in the doorway. He had a certain grace of movement, a bit like Duke's behaviour earlier, a handsome face shrouded by long, faintly pink hair. It was unusual, but it framed his icy turquoise eyes perfectly, and made them flash like jewels. He and Vivian Dwighton suggested the same atmosphere, something dark and renaissance-like. "Good evening gentleman." Siegfried bowed, a quite theatrical gesture.

Tristan looked at him sharply. "I have no idea what your business here is, von Schröder, but if it has nothing to do with the matter at hand…"

A laugh interrupted him. Siegfried threw his head back. "On the contrary my dear friend, it has everything to do with it."

Tristan shot him a weary glance. "Yes? What do you mean?"

Siegfried looked at him evenly. "I mean, that I have come to give myself up for the murder of Sir James Dwighton." He spoke quietly, but earnestly, and Tristan just looked at him.

"You do know what you are admitting, do you?"

Siegfried nodded. "Perfectly." His eyes wandered towards the table.

Tristan frowned. "I don't understand…"

Siegfried interrupted him with an irritated hand gesture. "Why do I give myself up? Call it remorse, call it whatever you like. I stabbed him, right enough." He nodded, a dark smile on his lips. "You can be sure of that." His eyes wandered back towards the table. "You've got the weapon right here, I see. Very handy little tool, I must say. Lady Dwighton unfortunately left it lying around in a book and I happened to snatch it up."

Tristan took a deep breath. "One minute, just to make sure I've understood you correctly. You admit to stabbing Lord Dwighton with this?" He held the dagger aloft, and Siegfried nodded.

"Quite right. I stole in through the window. He had his back to me, and it was quite easy. I left the same way."

Tristan looked at him. "Through the window?"

The businessman nodded. "Through the window." He was the picture of calmness, not a single trace of uncertainty in his voice, merely faint boredom and irritation at the repeated questions.

Tristan sighed again. "And at what time was that?"

Now there was faint trace of hesitation in Siegfried's face. "Let me see… I talked to the keeper, that must have been around quarter past six. The church tower was chiming in the distance. It must have been…probably somewhere around half passed."

A grim smile played along Tristan's lips. "That's quite right. Half past six was the time. Have you heard that already? This murder is getting stranger every minute."

Siegfried looked at him with confused disdain. "Really? Why?"

Now Tristan was truly grinning, even if there was no trace of happiness sin his voice. "People are falling over themselves to confess it."

A sharp intake of breath could be heard, as Siegfried's eyes widened. "Who…" He hesitated shortly. "Who else has confessed to it?" He clearly had to struggle to keep his voice steady, the confident show from before already barely a memory.

Tristan looked at him evenly. "Lady Dwighton."

With a loud laugh Siegfried threw his head back. "It sounded rather forced. Lady Dwighton has a tendency to be hysterical. I shouldn't pay any attention to what she says in your place."

Tristan shook his head. "Oh, don't worry, I don't think I will. But do you want to know the other strange thing about this murder?"

Siegfried looked at him wearily. "Yes?"

Tristan leaned back, eyes never leaving the other man's face. "Well, Lady Dwighton confessed to shooting Sir James, and you confessed to stabbing him. But you both have your lucky day, for he wasn't either shot or stabbed. His skull was smashed in, you see."

Siegfried looked at him, eyes wide and mouth open. "My god! But a woman couldn't possibly do that…" He bit his lip, deep in thought.

Tristan nodded with grim smile. "You would think such things only happen in novels." He still sounded fairly disapproving.

Siegfried looked up with a confused frown. "What?"

"Couple of young idiots accusing themselves because they thought the other had done it." An irritated frown passed over his face. "Now we are back at the beginning. Does everybody here have to be made crazy by emotions, or is there something in the weather?" Yugi was sure his friend glanced back at him and Yami at this point even though he couldn't imagine why. His friend continued shortly after that. "So, time to check on everybody's stories again…" With a frown he rang the bell, and when it was answered, he sent for Lady Dwighton.

Silence filled the room until she came in. When she saw Siegfried she started and stretched out a hand as if to save herself from falling over. Tristan, being closest to her, quickly stood to come to her rescue. "It's alright, Lady Dwighton. Please don't be alarmed." Over her shoulder Yugi could clearly see him rolling his eyes, but despite that he treated the lady gently, helping her to sit down, smiling at her. She looked up at him, fear clearly visible in her dark eyes.

"I don't understand. What is Mr. von Schröder doing here?"

Siegfried stood, taking a few step, before he stopped, shaking, right in front of her. "Vivian…Vivian why did you do it?"

She blinked up at him confusedly. "Do it?"

Siegfried balled his hands into fists. "I know. It was for me because you thought that…after all it was natural I suppose… Oh you angel!"

Tristan's hands twitched; for a moment he almost seemed to want to bury his head into them, but he managed to abort the motion in the last second. Clearly his limit for romantic displays had already been far overdrawn this evening.

"I have to say, Lady Dwighton, both you and Mr. von Schröder have been very lucky tonight. He had just arrived to take his turn at 'confessing' the murder." She started, and Tristan shook his head. "Oh no, it's alright, he didn't do it. You both got the weapon wrong, I'm afraid. But what we now need is the truth. No more noble confessions trying to take the blame for somebody else, please. The butler says you went into the library at half past six. Is that right?"

Vivian shared a deep look with Siegfried, who nodded. "The truth, Vivian." His voice was almost unbearably gently now. "That is what we want to know."

She breathed a deep sigh. "Very well, I shall tell you." She sank down into a chair, hastily pushed forward by Yugi. She didn't even glance in his direction. "I did come down. I opened the library door and I saw…" She interrupted herself and swallowed.

Yugi leaned forward to smile at her encouragingly. "Yes? You saw?"

She shook her head, as if that could chase the images from her mind. "My husband… he was lying across the writing table. His head, and there was so much blood… Oh god!" She put her hands to her face.

The constable leaned forward. "Excuse me, Lady Dwighton. You thought Mr. von Schröder had shot him?"

She nodded. "Forgive me, Siegfried." She looked at him imploringly. "But you said…you said…."

Siegfried nodded, grimly. "That I'd shot him like a dog. I remember. That was the day I discovered how ill he was treating you."

Tristan cleared his throat. "So I'm to understand, Lady Dwighton, that you went upstairs again and didn't tell anyone? We don't need to go into your reason for that, but you didn't touch the body on the writing table?"

She shuddered. "No…no I ran straight out of the room."

Tristan nodded. "I see. And at what time was this exactly? Do you know?"

She thought for a moment. "It was just half past six when I came back to my bedroom."

A frown appeared on Tristan's face. "Then that must mean that your husband was already dead at…say five-and-twenty past six." He looked over at the others. You could see a deep concern, and something almost like fear, glimmering in his eyes. But what could Tristan be afraid of? "So the clock was fake." His voice sounded so normal, casual even. The faint tremor in it was barely noticeable. "We suspected that all along. Moving the hands where you wished them to be would have been quite easy, but laying it down on its side was quite stupid. Well, that would narrow it down to the valet and the butler and…" A sad smile played upon his lips. "It's hard to imagine the butler doing it." He paused for a moment, gulped, and then looked up at Vivian again. "Tell me Lady Dwighton, could you imagine any reason why Du…Devlin could have any grudge against you husband?"

For a moment there was something almost like pleading in his eyes, as if he wanted to implore her, but for what Yugi couldn't guess. Vivian lifted her face from her hands and took a deep breath. "Well, not exactly a grudge, but James told me this morning that he'd dismissed him. He found him pilfering." She shrugged. "Devlin was always playing one dice game or another, no wonder he needed money."

Tristan gulped, and let himself fall back into the couch. "Well, that would settle that." He didn't sound happy about it at all. "That would have meant a dismissal without a character. Quite a serious matter." He looked over at nothing, a sad smile on his lips.

Vivian mustered him thoughtfully. "Say, you said something about a clock." When Tristan slowly nodded, she tipped her finger to her chin. "You know, there's just a chance, if you want to fix the time… James would have had his little golf watch on him. He never left it behind when he played. Couldn't it have smashed too, when he fell onto the table?"

Tristan nodded slowly. "That's an idea. But, I'm afraid… Curtis!"

The constable nodded in quick understanding, and disappeared into the hall. A minute later he was back, holding a silver watch marked like a golf ball in the palm of his hand. Clocks like that were sold to golfers to be carried loosely in a pocket with balls. "Here it is, sir." He offered Tristan the watch. "But it would be a miracle if there's something to it. Those watches aren't built to be tough." Slowly Tristan took it from him, and held it towards his ear.

"It does seem to have stopped at least." With shaking hands he pressed with his thumb and inside the glass was cracked. At the sight before him, a barely audible curse escaped him. "Duke, you idiot." The clock pointed to exactly a quarter past six.

Yami leaned back, slowly sipping at the glass in his hand. "A very good glass of port." It was half past nine and the three of them had just finished a belated dinner at Tristan's apartment. For a successful case the mood was quite subdued, with Tristan barely eating anything or sparing his port even the slightest glance. Instead he frowned at nothing, an aura of anger and sadness around himself which Yugi hadn't quite dared to break with a question yet. Instead he tried to focus on the positive thing that had happened.

With a short turn of his head, he looked over at Yami. "Well, at least Vivian and Siegfried are safe. You were just in time to keep them from putting their head into the noose."

Yami looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Really? I barely did anything at all." He sounded a bit amused, and Yugi shrugged.

"Well, it wasn't necessary I admit." Strange actually… the case had resolve itself so easily, the lovers safe and reunited. What exactly then had driven Yami here? For a moment he almost dared to hope it had been him, the chance to talk to him again, to see him again, but he drove that thought straight out of his head. Yami had been surprised to see him, hadn't expected him to be here, and he was still a bit on the edge, as calm as he now appeared to be. A quiet reminder that things still needed to be cleared.

"But it could have been necessary." A weak argument, but the only solution he could think of. "It was touch and go for a while." He laughed. "I don't think I will ever forget how Lady Dwighton declared 'I killed him!' I don't think I've ever seen anything half as dramatic in my life."

Yami inclined his head with a smile. "I would have to agree with you on that."

Encouraged Yugi continued on, towards Tristan. "I wouldn't have believed such things could happen outside one of Miho's novels. She would have a field day with that." He had declared that twenty times that evening already, but as before, not even Miho's name could rouse Tristan to do more than nod and grunt something indiscernible. It was clear that he hadn't heard a single word.

Yami carefully swirled the port around in his glass, eyes thoughtfully clouded over. "Does it?"

That was what finally got Tristan's attention. The inspectors head snapped up, and he fixed Yami with an angry glare. "Well it damn well happened tonight, didn't it?"

Yugi looked startled at his friend, unsure where all that anger and the sadness were coming from. Carefully he sat his own glass down. "Well, it was magnificently staged. Lady Dwighton seems to have a hand for that. She just made a mistake. She shouldn't have presumed that her husband had been shot." If the whole thing had been a card game, that would have been a beginners mistake. "Just like Von Schröder assumed that he had been stabbed, just because the dagger happened to be lying on the table. It was a mere coincidence that Lady Dwighton brought it down."

Yami looked up from his port directly at Yugi. "Was it so?"

There was something strange in his smile, almost like a challenge, and Yugi's heart stumbled for a moment before he continued on. "Er, yes, what else could it be? If they had just confined to say that they killed Sir James, what would have been the result?"

The same odd smile danced across Yami's lips. "They actually might have been believed."

Tristan snorted, chucking down his first glass of port for the night way too fast. "Exactly like a novel, the whole cursed thing."

Yami leaned sideways, placing his arm on the table in front of him. "That's where they got the idea from, I would guess."

Yugi nodded. "Possibly. Things you saw or read come back to you in the oddest way." He looked across at Yami, unsure how to proceed. That was a game, he was sure of it; Yami was moving the puzzle pieces along again. But to what end? The case was solved. Or was it?

"Of course the clock really looked suspicious. Nobody should forget just how easily the hands of a clock could be moved forwards or back."

Yami nodded slowly. "Forward." He paused for a moment. "And back." His red eyes almost burned into Yugi's, something encouraging lingering in his voice. Like that very first night, so many months ago at new year. He looked straight at Yugi, focussed on nothing else.

Yugi let out a shaky breath. "The hands of the clock were put forward. We know that."

Yami still looked at him, slowly raising an eyebrow. "Were they?"

Yugi stared at him, his throat suddenly quite dry. "You don't mean that it was the watch, the one in the pocket, that was put back?" Out of the corner of his eye he suddenly saw Tristan sitting up straight, alert like hunting dog, eyes wide with a light Yugi couldn't quite place at first. "That's impossible."

Yami shook his head, murmuring slowly. "Not quite impossible."

Yugi just looked at him confused. "But that's absurd. Who would gain by doing that?" Yami shrugged.

"Somebody who had an alibi for the time."

Tristan's hands slammed onto the table. The light in his wide eyes now almost burning manically bright. "von Schröder! That's the time he said he was talking to the keeper!"

Yugi nodded thoughtfully. "He told us that in particular." For a moment the two old friends shared a looked. An uneasy feeling lay over the room, as if the stable ground beneath their feet was slowly carving in. True, Tristan seemed too happy about it, smiling brightly, hope slowly growing on his face; but the smile was also shaken by the facts spinning round of them, turning to a new and unexpected face. And in the centre of this kaleidoscope was the dark, smiling face of Yami.

Tristan's voice was shaking. "But that means…that means…" Hope, pure and undiluted hope, was shining in his eyes, and he had to take a moment to collect himself. Yugi nodded, almost automatically finishing the sentence for him.

"It's the other way around. Everything is the other way around. Instead of Devlin trying to blame the crime on them they blamed it on him. But why did they accuse themselves of the crime? That makes no sense."

Yami turned his head to look at him. "Oh, I wouldn't say that. It actually makes a lot of sense. Till they accused themselves, you suspected them, didn't you?" His gaze clouded over and his voice took on a placid, dreamlike quality. "You said it yourself, inspector, just like something out of a book. They stole the idea from there, because that's what the innocent hero and heroine usually do. Of course it made you think they are innocent, a little bit overdramatic and maybe a bit stupid, but innocent. There is a force of tradition behind that. Yugi had said at the beginning that it was like something happening on stage, and you were both right. It wasn't real, just like you have been claiming all along without knowing what you were saying. If they truly wanted to be believed, they would have told a much better story."

The two friend looked at him still a bit steamrolled. Yugi was the first to speak again. "It would be very clever. And now that you mention it: I remember the Butler said that he came in at seven to shut the windows. He expected them to be open."

Yami smiled at him, the proud look in his eyes so familiar that Yugi couldn't help but smile back. "That's how von Schröder came in. He killed Sir James with one blow and then he and she did what they had to do…" He trailed off, nodding at Yugi encouragingly and a bit hesitating, Yugi slowly started to reconstruct the scene.

"They smashed the clock and put it on its side. Then they altered the watch and smashed it. He then went out of the window, and she fastened it after him. But I don't understand why they would bother with the watch at all. Why not just put back the hands of the clock and leave it at that?"

Yami shook his head, nearly completely quoting Yugi's earlier words back at him. "The clock was always a bit obvious. Anybody might have seen through such an obvious ploy anytime."

Yugi frowned. "But still, the watch was too far-fetched. It was pure chance that we even thought about it."

A small smile played over Yami's lips. "Her ladyship made sure that you wouldn't overlook that. It was her suggestion after all."

Yugi nearly face-palmed. Of course…damn it, that had been so easy to forget.

Yami still continued in that weird, dreamlike way, as if he was mostly talking to himself and not his two companions. "And yet the one person who wouldn't have missed the watch was Devlin himself. He was Sir James' valet; they know better than anyone else what their masters carry in their pockets, probably even better than their masters themselves. If he had altered the clock, the valet would have altered the watch too." He shook his head with a soft, disagreeing smile. "They don't understand human nature at all, those two…" He trailed off, his eyes locked with Yugi's for a moment, almost hesitatingly, and his next words were so soft, Yugi barely caught them. "They are not like Yugi."

Yugi felt his face heat up, and hastily averted his eyes. He took a deep breath, before he shook his head. "No. I've been wrong from the beginning. I thought…" He paused. "I thought you came to save them." Wasn't that what Yami had always done? Help lovers in need? Apart from that last case, the one on Harlequin's Road, maybe that was why Yugi had needed this to be one of those cases, proof that what Yami – what Death – had done back then was the exception, not the norm. That Yami was still more interested in aiding people than in killing them. That Yugi had always been right about him, was right in still having no regrets about meeting him, about…falling for him…

Yami just looked at him, a sad look in his eyes, which sometimes appeared in them, but with an almost hidden smile on his face. "But I did." Yugi's head shot up to look at him, and Yami nodded slowly in Tristan's direction. Yugi's friend was lost in his own thoughts at the moment, clearly mulling over the shocking twist his case had taken. When Yami spoke, it was in whisper, so that Yugi was barely able to hear him. "It wasn't about those two. The others. Haven't you noticed, how unhappy the inspector was about Devlin, how the two of them acted around each other? Neither of them played a dramatic part; apart from Devlin teasing the inspector, there were no grand declarations of guilt to save one another. But I think there is something between them, even if they are not yet that far into it. And I'm sure, you'll be able to help the inspector to save his man from getting hanged."

Yugi looked over at Tristan, who was still mulling over the case. True, he had been reacting rather strange to all this. And he had been worried about this case the whole night because of Devlin. It made a strange amount of sense. He turned back to Yami to answer him, when Tristan suddenly looked up, with a curse on his lips.

"Damn it. It's no good. The whole thing sounds right, but we haven't got proof of any kind."

Yami's whole face was lit up by a smile, his red eyes sparkling making them look like dancing flames, when he looked Yugi directly in the eye. "Yugi has."

Yugi looked at him completely dumbfounded. "I do?" That would be news to him.

Now it was clearly laughter lighting up Yami's eyes. "Oh yes, you do. You got proof that the watch wasn't smashed in Sir James' pocket. You can't smash a watch like that without opening the case. You can try it if you like. Somebody took the watch out, opened it, set back the hands, smashed it, shut it and then put it back into the dead man's pocket." He shook his head. "Too bad they never noticed that a fragment of glass was missing."

"Oh!" Yugi's hand flied to his pocket and excited he drew out a fragment of curved glass. This was his moment. He held it up, letting it glint in the firelight, a triumphant look on his face. "With this," he declared, "I shall save a man from death."

It was long past midnight when Yugi and Yami finally left Tristan's apartment. After Yugi's revelation that he indeed had proof about what happened Tristan had immediately dragged him to the phone, and hadn't let go till Duke's release and the immediate arrest of the murderous couple had been arranged. Yugi really felt bad for the poor guy who had the night shift at the police station tonight. But now everything was stilled. He watched Yami nod towards him, smiling softly, and take a step away from him into the darkness, fear clenched his heart again.

"Wait!" His shout rang out loud and clear in the silent night, and Yami stopped in the middle of the motion. Slowly he turned around towards Yugi a curious look on his face. Yugi's breath went uneven. "Please, you are not going to disappear again, are you?"

Yami hesitated for a moment; eyes looked on Yugi, before slowly turned around to face Yugi full. "I finished what I had to do hear. I thought…" He hesitated. "I thought staying longer would mean overstaying my welcome after what happened last time."

Yugi just looked at him. "What happened last time? What happened last time?" His voice shook so much he could barely get the words out. "You just walked up and disappeared! After all that happened then you just disappeared! And I'm still angry about that, and we definitely need to talk about that but…did you even hear what I said? To your question? About if I regret walking down that road with you?"

Yami opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Good, Yugi hadn't been finished either way. " I said no." His voice nearly broke at this word, but he steadily held Yami's gaze, knowing he needed to get this out now, still meaning every word of it. "And I still don't regret it. We need to talk about it, and I need a proper explanation. No more guesses, no more riddles and games. I love those, and they were and are fun, but I can't always take stabs into the dark and hope I'm connecting the dots correctly. And" – he gulped – "I need to know if you are willing to take a shot at this. Because I am."

His heart beat so loudly in his chest; he could barely hear anything over it. He was daring to move, fixing Yami with a stare, as if he could disappear the moment he blinked, winking out of existence as usual. Waiting for an answer that seemed for the moment more important than anything.

Yami stood there unmovable, like a statue. His red eyes blazing in the dark were the only sign that he was still there, still alive. Then, faster than a blink of the eyes, he suddenly disappeared, to reappear before Yugi without giving even the slightest hint towards movement. His eyes burned into Yugi, their faces so close that they nearly touched. Yugi could feel his breath on his face.

"Are you sure?" Yami's voice was barely more than a deep night-dark rumble, all velvet smoothness and sharp steel hiding underneath. "Are you sure you want to know everything, you want to take this on? There could be things which you won't like that much to know."

Yugi met his eyes evenly, even though his heart threatened to burst out from his chest. "Maybe you should let me decide what I would like to hear and not hear. I've already seen a bit of what you are capable of. I'm willing to try, with the good and the bad and everything, if you are."

For a moment Yami's eyes bore into him, and then slowly, he nodded. "Everything." With this promise he slowly tipped his head forward, Yugi closing his eyes to meet him halfway.

There was still a lot to discuss, a possible future to carve out from hundreds and thousands of complications and hard talks, but in this moment, standing out on the lonely driveway, surrounded only by darkness and wind, with the first small snowflakes slowly falling around them, lost in a kiss that truly meant everything, Yugi couldn't remember a time where he felt happier, or a moment that had felt more perfect.


End file.
